Coyotes a permanent part of Oak Park life

Published on January 03, 2025

With an estimated 30,000 coyotes currently living in Illinois, coyotes are a permanent fixture in Oak Park and surrounding communities.

While coyotes may appear intimidating, these urban scavengers typically avoid humans. However, it's important to stay aware and take precautions to keep yourself and your pets safe.

Seeing a coyote does not necessarily mean a dangerous situation for humans or domestic animals. If approached by a coyote, do not run — make yourself appear larger by yelling, standing up straight, clapping your hands, waving your arms and using a noise-making device such as whistles or shaker cans.

If a coyote runs/walks a short distance away and looks back, continue to be loud and appear large – these intelligent animals will sometimes look back to see if you’re bluffing. 

Your actions not only will scare the coyote, but will discourage it from approaching humans in the future.

During spring, coyotes may expand their territory in search of mates, new den sites or areas with easily accessible food and water.

While coyote-human conflicts are rare, coyotes are capable of jumping into fenced yards and stealing small pets, such as cats or dogs under 30 pounds. Keep pets close and avoid letting them roam during peak coyote activity hours - dawn, dusk, and night.

In the unlikely event that a coyote is aggressive or shows its fangs, growls or approaches, get to safety and contact the Animal Control Division at 708.358.5486 to provide details including the date, time and address of the event.

In the meantime, discourage coyotes from being attracted to your property by following these tips:

• Do not feed coyotes. This means limiting unintentional outdoor food sources like pet food and ripe fruit. Bird food, for example, attracts rodents which coyotes feed upon.
• Do not leave small pets — especially cats — unattended outside.
• Consider installing a fence at least four feet high to prevent coyotes from entering your yard.
• Keep garbage stored securely. While coyotes are not likely to eat garbage, they may be to be attracted to the rodents that feed on it.
• Maintain your property by sealing off crawlspaces under homes or porches and removing tall grass, brush piles and yard debris that could provide shelter for wildlife.

More information about how to respond to various coyote behaviors.(PDF, 595KB)

More detailed information about coyotes is posted online.