For the two and a half months I lived in Texas, off the grid and twenty miles from civilization, my closest neighbors were the coyotes which roamed/owned the area. You would hear them at night, sometimes walking around our camp, sometimes howling or yipping (or making a terrifying shrieking cackling sound (at least I hope that was a coyote)) from near and far.
Now I've moved to Chicago, I don't have coyotes for neighbors, right?
To my surprise, I do. There are apparently two coyotes outfitted with GPS tracking units embedded somewhere within their flesh roaming around northwest Chicago, and they have a permit to do so. Information is scant on this, but apparently this is part of a study by the Cook County Rabies and Animal Control office, to monitor the travels of the coyotes and their effect on the rat population.
Of course, this generally makes people nervous, but coyotes are more popular in metropolitan areas then people realize. They generally keep a low profile and go around controlling the size of deer, rabbit, and rat populations. It's very rare that they attack humans, they have no need or desire to do such a dangerous thing. Instinctively, by this point maybe it's possible they even fully understand the consequence -- DEATH.
But now, I stand the possibility of running into a coyote that is authorized to coexist with human beings, which will make walking around Chicago a little more interesting.
