A Chicago woman claims she was surrounded by a trio of coyotes while she walked her two dogs in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood early Tuesday.
The woman, Kate Dodge, said she encountered the three coyotes early Tuesday near the corner of Clark Street and Armitage Avenue, CBS Chicago reports. She told the station she stopped walking when the coyotes were about 50 feet away from them, but the coyotes continued toward her, one running within a foot of her and her dogs.
"This coyote had no fear of me," Dodge told CBS.
The woman's claim, which she reported via a 911 call she made at 6:30 a.m., is currently being investigated by Animal Care & Control officials. They have yet to find evidence of the wild animals in the area nearby, according to WLS.
The investigators said they will return tomorrow and, if the coyotes are found, they will attempt to capture them in order to relocate them to a wildlife rehabilitation center.
This is not the first time coyotes have been spotted within city limits, of course. Last year, another Chicagoan reported being startled after spotting a coyote checking out some small dogs near the intersection of Division and Crosby on the city's North Side. In December of 2010, a female coyote was rescued after being seen floating on a patch of ice several hundred yards away from shore on Lake Michigan.
In order to avoid attracting coyotes and to protect your outdoor pets, the Humane Society of the United States recommends avoiding feeding your animals outside, if possible, using enclosed bins if you compost and keeping your trash in tight-fitting lids.
It is estimated that some 1,000 coyotes live within Chicago's city limits.
Photo by Todd Ryburn via Flickr.