Another Coyote Attack In Chicago Hours After Child Bitten

CHICAGO, IL — Hours after a 5-year-old boy was bitten multiple times by a coyote, a second person was attacked on the city's North Side.

Authorities told NBC Chicago that the second incident happened in the Streeterville neighborhood.

A 32-year-old man was walking on a sidewalk when he said the coyote came from behind and bit him on the buttocks. The man was reportedly treated for a scratch at Northwestern Hospital.

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A coyote was spotted in Streeterville Thursday morning, according to ABC Chicago. The animal ran past staff outside Northwestern Hospital and reportedly had a limp from an injured paw.

On Wednesday afternoon, a 5-year-old boy suffered lacerations to his head when he was reportedly bitten several times on Chicago's North Side. He was stabilized at Lurie Children's Hospital.

The attacks came one day after multiple reported coyote sightings on Chicago's North Side. Chicago Animal Care and Control said it had received about 10 calls about coyotes in the past week, according to NBC.

On Tuesday, a coyote was rescued after it fell into Lake Michigan near Monroe Harbor.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said coyotes typically "do more good than harm where humans are concerned," although they occasionally kill livestock and domestic pets.

"Attacks on humans are extremely rare considering the range and abundance of coyotes," according to IDNR. "A study published in 2007 found 187 reliable reports of attacks on humans, most of which (157) occurred in California, Arizona and Nevada. Many of these incidents occurred where people were feeding coyotes intentionally, causing them to lose their fear of humans."

Seth Magle, director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo, told WTTW coyote attacks are very rare. "When these kinds of events happen, often it’s the result of a few things. One could be people are hand-feeding these animals. When animals are hand-fed, they associate humans with food and that can lead to attacks," he said, adding that illness could also play a role and noting there are between 3,000 and 4,000 coyotes in Cook County and likely hundreds in Chicago alone.

To "prevent human-coyote conflicts," IDNR offers these guidelines:

• Do not run if a coyote approaches you. Yell, stand up straight and wave your arms (the goal is to make yourself appear larger), or throw something at the coyote to make it move away (the goal is to scare it away, not to injure it).
• Teach your kids what to do if they see a coyote. Have them throw their arms up in the air and yell “like a monster” to scare the coyote away.
• Do not leave small pets unattended when they are outside, especially at night. Consider the use of fencing or kennel runs to protect small pets.
• Do not feed coyotes. Property owners should limit the availability of unintentional food sources such as bird food, pet food, ripe fruit or trash.
• Comply with local ordinances that require oversight/restraint of pets. Coyotes that are protecting their den or young will vigorously defend the area. Simply walking your dog in another area keeps everyone safe.
• If removal of a coyote is deemed necessary, hire a nuisance wildlife control operator who is licensed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Coyote removals approved by the IDNR usually involve the use of cage (live) traps or padded foot-hold traps. These animals are humanely euthanized, not relocated.