At 12:17am my mother started a group text to the family. Naturally, I was alarmed due to the hour. I mean, I’m an avowed night owl, and so is Mama Kismet, but she included several other family members who she knew would be fast asleep at midnight. What, pray tell, was so urgent? This was her entire message: “Am I the only one who saw the Chicago cop pulling a coyote out of the supermarket produce display?” I responded with the only logical, reasonable question to my mother: “Are you high?” But no! Every part of her nonsensical sentence was true! On Monday Animal Care and Control was called to an Aldi supermarket in Chicago to remove a coyote who was hiding among the produce in a refrigerated aisle, presumably to relocate the lost mutt to a room temperature locale. Thankfully — for the word of my mother and my own sanity — there is video documenting this scene which truly must be seen to be believed.
It’s mating season for coyotes and one fella seems to have gone looking for love in an unexpected place: Aldi’s refrigerator aisle.
On Monday morning, Chicago Animal Care and Control responded to a report of a coyote at 800 N. Kedzie Ave., aka the Humboldt Park Aldi.
Video shared on social media showed officers rooting around shelves of produce and salads, finally locating the coyote and pulling it from its hiding place.
The critter attempted to dive back into the cases but was ultimately captured, according to Armando Tejeda of Animal Care and Control.
The coyote, confirmed to be a male, will be transferred to the city’s wildlife rehabilitation partner, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation.
The animal appears uninjured, “but Flint Creek will conduct an assessment to confirm its health before releasing it back into the wild if deemed appropriate,” Tejeda said.
Coyotes typically avoid humans, but activity and sightings tend to increase during mating season as the animals search for mates and establish territories, he added.
Some tips for co-existing with Chicago’s coyotes, a population that’s adapted nicely to an urban environment:
—Keep an eye on pets and use a short leash on dogs, especially near parks or wooded areas.
—Avoid feeding coyotes (and wildlife in general) as it encourages bold behavior and increases interactions. That applies to unintentional feeding such as leaving pet food, garbage or even birdseed unattended.
—If you come across a coyote, resist the urge to run. Make yourself big, loud and back away slowly.
So the obvious question on everyone’s mind is: why was he in the produce and not the meat section? No but really, what is this kid’s story? Did Aldi managers see him stroll in the entrance (if so, video please!) and he was hidden amongst the salads by the time Animal Care and Control arrived? (Sidenote question to AC&C: was yanking him out by the tail really the only way? Ouch!) Or did an unsuspecting shopper reach for a bag of carrots and was startled by a pair of beady eyes staring back? And was this coyote looking for food, or love, as this article suggests? (Tough question, I know, as the two are so easily entwined.) But of course, this whole episode — a coyote sneaking his way into piles of food — is simply begging for invocations of Wile E. Coyote. The image of the desperate, starving coyote endures! If only this had taken place at an Acme supermarket…
Anyway, I hope this wily coyote finds peace, a mate, and a decent meal in his new home at Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, before he’s set loose into the wild (of Chicago) once again. And please do heed the tips on dealing with coyotes. Keep careful watch on your pets when outside of the house, just ask Tommy Lee and Brittany Furlan. And definitely do not leave food out for creatures unless you’re really prepared to FAFO, just ask this woman in Washington State.
The Aldi’s on Kedzie in Humboldt Park
I was prepared to see him pull out a opossum or a raccoon. Did NOT expect that pic.twitter.com/4CbaWkjhwy
— Eddie (@EddieBarstool) January 13, 2025
Coyote photos credit: Tomáš Malík and Matt R on Pexels
100 per cent there for discount holiday decorations. No but really…poor baby. I apologize to him on behalf of humanity for destroying his environment.
💯
Book recommendation: Coyote American by Dan Flores. Fascinating look at these brilliant, resourceful and resilient animals.
Cosign this recommendation. I read it during lockdown and during that period, we had a roaming coyote in Uptown New Orleans (it’s not uncommon) who got into a tussle with our GSD. I emailed some thoughts and questions to Dan, and he actually responded:
“Anyway, I do appreciate that you read Coyote America and learned useful things from it. When I was sitting down to that book project, one of the things that struck me was that with coyotes spreading all over the country, people were going to need something to help them understand and enjoy these animals. I thought their story a fascinating and compelling one, and it’s not over yet.”
Thank you for the recommendation! I will absolutely check it out!
This is my neighborhood and there are a number of coyotes that are spotted in the park. You see them often in the city in areas where there are large wooded parks or trails, mostly everyone stays away from them but this guy went a little south of the park maybe looking for food, it’s been cold no rats about.
Fun fact Humboldt is also where they found the alligator in the lagoon. Chance the Snapper!
Ha! I was just listening to the Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone podcast yesterday & she had the alligator guy on who recovered that gator! He lives in Florida & is apparently the go-to guy for such things. He was happy to help.
I’m north of you (up by Montrose), but my block dead-ends at the river and we definitely get coyotes.
About a decade ago, I’d gotten a FitBit for Christmas and was trying to get my 10K steps and asked my husband to watch me while I walked around the block once or twice. I wanted him to watch to make sure I didn’t get mugged. Instead, I came across a coyote hanging in the middle of my street!
Hi, Fellow Chicagoans! I live in Avondale. My husband saw a coyote near Lane Tech a few weeks ago. Poor things.
I live in Minnesota about 30 miles southwest of Minneapolis. It’s now an outer ring suburb but used to be quite rural not that long ago. Coyote sightings are common in the areas nearby where development has now reached. People in new developments occasionally see them in their backyards. Apparently, they’ve adjusted to the cold climate. Small pets must be carefully watched at all times!
This story has already found its way across the Atlantic to our local Aldi, where a young Lab mix pup tried to enter the store earlier this morning.
Its humans apparently took too much time with their shopping, and somehow the little one managed to get rid of the leash that was tied to something outside. It was still wearing its harness though. Maybe it had help?
The store manager mentioned how he preferred barring a pup from entering the store to having to get rid of a coyote, and we all agreed.
We have a pack of wolves roaming through the fields in the vicinity, and I wouldn’t want to come face-to-face with them.
Poor baby. I hope he’s OK and can find food in his natural habitat once released.
My outer ring Cleveland suburb has been inundated with coyotes in the last couple of years. Occasionally I hear a pack of them yowling while walking my dog ( I live next to a protected marsh area) and one night I called my son to warn him that a pack was sighted on his suburban neighborhood street so he was cautious with their dog. It’s crazy. At least the deer that are everywhere will run away when they see people but these coyotes stand their ground.
Dang, occasionally we would get a black bear sighting in the D.C. suburbs and foxes sleeping in the street in the sun, no joke, but no coyotes in the fruit. The coyotes were probably to busy going after the deer standing next to 50mph traffic eating grass.
I’m in New England and we also have packs of coyotes around. For the most part if you stay away from them they’ll stay away from you, and people know to keep small pets indoors or on leash, esp at night. It’s also their mating season right now so you will see them out and about more in daylight.
It’s unfortunate we keep clearcutting their habitats; it’s not only home to all sorts of wildlife and fauna but we need the CO2, shade, etc. I realize in many places there is a housing shortage but there is also a plethora of empty buildings, vacant lots, etc., in both urban and more rural/suburban areas, with infrastructure already in place, so I don’t understand why there isn’t more effort to redevelop these properties vs chopping down swaths of forest.
Coyotes are well able to live in urban areas. We live three miles from downtown, and there are coyotes in our neighborhood’s wooded park. I’m not sure, but I suspect they vary their hunting grounds, as we’ll see them often for a few weeks, then not at all for months. Backyard chickens are a favorite snack!
Wow, that poor coyote really was hiding in the refrigerated produce! Its poor tail… I’ve never encountered a coyote in the states. We had deer eating our garden veg, foxes, baby raccoons in our fire place after school, but never anything like this.
Every morning, there’s a Coyote that literally walks with me (On the opposite side of the street) from my street to my bus stop at 4:30 am. He never crosses over to my side, but it’s now become something that happens almost daily, lol.
You have an escort! I hope one day before you two part ways for the day, s/he look over and gives you a little nod, like “we’re good.”
@MaisiesMom
We actually do look over at each other. I nod, they do a circle. It absolutely makes my morning!
That’s pretty magical.
That really is cool.
Wow, that little guy made himself SMALL to fit in there! Hope he wasn’t too scared.
We get coyotes in my neighborhood in Houston and we’re pretty close to downtown, though still single family homes. They come out at night, mostly very late. People have been warned not to walk their dogs in the wee hours if they can avoid it, or let their cats wander around. I’ve never seen one though, just a lot of possums and the occasional scary giant hawk.
Obviously he was looking for a snack of roadrunner and to pick up some flowers on his way to pick up his date 😂
Yeah and he probably got into the Aldi by painting a door on the wall and walking in!
We have a ton of coyotes in my neighbourhood because we live near a giant natural area. When my husband was waking our dog the other day, he came around the corner and almost ran into 6 of them! Our dog is 85 lbs so not a risk of becoming a snack. She wanted to play with them. 😆
And a coyote was hit by a United airlines plane at O’Hare this week also. This Aldi coyote is in good hands with Flint Creek, I donate to them as they are one of the few in the area really committed to saving and reintroducing wildlife to the native homes.
I remember seeing a Coyote in 1987…late night in Chicago on Randolph off of Michigan…GORJUS! 💚 And in my Chicagoland suburb where I currently live…when I was working…I would often see them around the bus stop when I was waiting for my 5:20 a.m. bus to take me to the train…(I was usually alone that early)…I didn’t bother them…and they didn’t bother me😍
Not the first time this has happened. Some years back a coyote wandered into MacKelly’s Greens and Things on Adams in the Loop and jumped into a beverage case. What is it about Chicago coyotes?
I was in Washington DC some years ago when a poor woman was killed by coyotes in a park. An incredibly rare event thankfully. A guy at breakfast in the hotel had the solution to roaming coyotes. ‘Introduce wolves and cougars, that’ll get rid of the coyotes’. With thinking like that he sounds ideal for trump’s cabinet.,
I was in Washington DC some years ago when a poor woman was killed by coyotes in a park. An incredibly rare event thankfully. A guy at breakfast in the hotel had the solution to roaming coyotes. ‘Introduce wolves and cougars into the park, that’ll get rid of the coyotes’. With thinking like that he sounds ideal for trump’s cabinet.,
We got coyotes in Central Park in NYC! They can truly live anywhere. I’m curious how he got inside and no one noticed?!
Man people complain when they steal their pets for food, now they complain when they go to the grocery store for food. Coyotes can’t win for losing 😂
At least the coyote was a gentleman and didn’t go after a pet or a human being. He should be thanked for his good manners and given a T-bone steak.