Coyote rescued from Lake Michigan

December 17, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A coyote was pulled from the water by CFD and Animal Care and Control crews after floating on a wayward sheet of ice in Lake Michigan Friday morning.

The ice patch was floating approximately half of one mile away from the shore just off Fullerton when it was spotted around 9 a.m.

Chicago Fire Department officials received a 911 call at about 9:30 a.m. Crews were en route with a boat when the animal jumped from the piece of ice and began swimming in the frigid waters.

The animal swam around for about 20 minutes before climbing up on a different ice sheet around 10:30 a.m.

The Chicago Fire Department Engine 58 boat Victor L. Schlaeger arrived from Belmont Harbor around 10:45 a.m., and the animal was pulled into the boat about five minutes later and headed back to Belmont Harbor. 

Rescue crews then loaded the coyote into an Animal Control van.

Normally, the fire department does not rescue wildlife from lake waters. However, because Animal Control responded quickly to the emergency call, fire officials decided to use a department engine boat at Belmont Harbor to transport an Animal Control official out to the spot where the coyote was stranded.

"Animal control responded so quickly. They're able to handle wild animals. We can do dogs and cats, but they can handle the wild animals. Because of their quick response, we put one of them on our boat, and with one of the nooses, they were able to get the coyote out of the water," said Chief Mike Fox of the Chicago Fire Department.

According to a police diver, the coyote apparently had been sniffing around some fish, possibly catfish, when the big chunk of ice it was sitting on broke off and drifted away.

Urban coyotes are not uncommon in Chicago. Most recently, a coyote was caught on camera running down State Street in Chicago's Loop on November 15, 2010. In March 2010, a coyote was seen in Grant Park. But the most memorable sighting was in 2007 when a coyote walked into a Loop restaurant and jumped in the cooler with the drinks. It was tagged and set free days later.

 

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