Riverside resident Kevin Smith knew something just wasn’t right. Out in the backyard on April 4, the family’s schnauzer was very agitated, yapping at something that had wandered on to the property, which sits across from the Big Ball Park on North Delaplaine Road.
“I look out and there’s a big, scraggly thing,” said Smith, who is a Riverside village trustee. “The dog chased him off, and I went outside to loosen the dog’s chain, and there’s this thing sitting in the bushes staring out at me, five feet away from the dog.”
It was a coyote, “the size of a small German shepherd,” said Smith, who said he was surprised by the animal’s boldness.
“I brought the dog in and in a little while the coyote is back in the yard,” Smith said. “He goes by my pond and then walks up onto my deck. And I’m thinking this isn’t good, you should go away.”
Smith, like many Riverside residents, has had brushes with wildlife pretty regularly in his time here. While most of the coyote sightings and other animal calls come from south of the railroad tracks along the Des Plaines River and its forested banks, animals have made it to all parts of the village.
Deer, often more than one at a time, are commonplace in backyards, chewing up plants. Foxes, raccoons, skunks have all been sighted by residents. Coyotes, too.
“Deer will go off, and foxes won’t go anywhere near you,” said Smith. “What’s different is that this [coyote] didn’t show any fear.”
Smith said he’s observed coyotes (perhaps the same one) four times this past winter in Big Ball Park. When the village took down its skating rink there last month, Smith said he saw a coyote sniffing around the frame that still remained around twilight.
At its April 7 village board meeting, Smith’s fellow trustees heard a proposal from Village Manager Kathleen Rush to allow her to make a west suburban animal control company the village’s preferred vendor in dealing with such issues.
Last week, Lombard-based Critter Detectives was named the preferred vendor, though residents can choose any animal control company to deal with unwanted visitors. Costs for removing or trapping animals from private property will be borne by the homeowner.
In exchange for naming Critter Detectives its preferred vendor, Riverside will receive free animal removal from public lands.
Animal removal from private property can get expensive. According to a schedule of fees provided by Critter Detectives to the Village of Riverside, removing or trapping a coyote from a private yard could cost over $500 between set-up fees and daily visits. Removing dead animals from private property can cost from $50 (for a small animal such as a raccoon) to $250 for deer.
Riverside Public Works Director Michael Hullihan said that coyotes are commonplace near the public works garage in Riverside Lawn and along the river.
“I see coyotes about once a week,” Hullihan said. “I saw a three-legged one about a month ago.”
Hullihan said that an explosion in the local rabbit population probably has something to do with increased sightings.
“The rabbit population has really been big throughout the western suburbs and has really brought the coyotes out,” Hullihan said.
Typically, the animals want nothing to do with humans or even other animals, such as dogs.
“They are getting more used to us and are not as afraid of us,” Lou Ocasio, owner of Critter Detectives, said of coyotes. But they’re not into attacking people. They will occasionally take a small dog, but they are just looking for something to eat. It’ll be just a matter of time before he leaves the area.”
Critter Detectives uses an underground trap to catch coyotes, Ocasio said. A cushioned leg-hold trap is placed in a hole in the ground, which is baited.
“It’s a restraint on the paw that holds it until we can get there,” Ocasio said. “We don’t like to use them in parks because we don’t want to catch a dog.”
However, there has been at least one incident in the past 10 years, where police shot a coyote dead after it became aggressive.
In December 2000, police shot a coyote on Gage Road after it charged police. Police had received calls for about a week concerning an injured coyote wandering through backyards. At one point it climbed the rear stairs of a residence on East Burlington Street and later charged a Gage Road family out shoveling snow in the driveway.
“If an animal gets aggressive our officers have the authority to shoot and kill,” said Police Chief Thomas Weitzel.
Weitzel said that the department does own a tranquilizer gun, though it has not been used in many years. The trouble with that weapon, Weitzel said, is that “it takes some time to set up.”
The officer has to estimate the weight of the animal and measure out the correct dose before shooting the animal.