'Sad-Looking' Coyote Discovered At Loop Metra Station
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A female coyote that looked "like Wile E. Coyote after a rough day with the Road Runner" was unharmed and taken into the care of the proper authorities after she was found trapped at a Metra station in the Loop Sunday morning.
"The call came in to us about 7 a.m. of a coyote trapped in a Metra station at 440 S. LaSalle St.,'' said city Dept. of Animal Care & Control spokesman Brad Powers. "We found a female coyote in good health.''
The LaSalle Street station, on the Rock Island District Line, is located at 414 S. LaSalle St., according to Metra's website.
The animal was found where commuters come through a turnstile after exiting Metra trains, Animal Care & Control Inspector Marstine Crayton said.
"He was right by the tunnel near where the citizens get off the train,'' Crayton said.
"Ellie," as she was possibly named, was rescued by workers using a "catch pole,'' which is a pole with a lasso-type of rope on the end, according to Powers.
Police were called about 6:30 a.m. because a surprised Metra agent making rounds saw the coyote.
"You'd never expect to find a wild animal there,'' according to a Central District police sergeant, who said no one was injured.
"He [coyote] looked really sheepish and really sad. It just sat there,'' the sergeant said. He looked frazzled, it was like Wile E. Coyote after a rough day with the Road Runner.''
Powers said while the 2-year-old, 45-pound animal is in good health, but may have been out of sorts because she couldn't get out of the station on her own.
"I would image if you're a coyote and you're in a train station you're not doing very well,'' said Powers.
There was no indication the animal had any kind of tracking device on her, but she will be examined further Sunday by personnel from Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, an agency which transfers about 450 wild animals out of the city department per year, according to Powers.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
