The owner of an alpaca farm in Barrington says there's growing concern over the reports of sightings -- and confirmed attacks -- of coyotes on small animals.
"I've seen more sightings, but much more assertive," said farmer Jim Tomaszek. "They attack in packs. They're a threat to any, any human being, but kids especially."
Tomaszek said the coyotes he's seen are getting more bold and traveling in larger packs.
Three Pyrenees guard dogs are so far doing their job keeping the coyotes at bay. If they weren't, said Tomaszek, his alpaca herd would likely be decimated.
Just down the road from the Cuba Wildlife Preserve in unincorporated Barrington, residents talk of family pets being snatched.
"I've seen coyotes in our backyard, but we've had incidents where smaller dogs have been taken by the coyotes," said resident Don Neri.
Just last week, in Winfield, a boy watched as a coyote snatched the family's small Yorkshire Terrier. A week earlier, a 16-pound dog was attacked in a fenced in yard in Wheaton but survived. And an attack a week before that, also in Wheaton, was fatal.
In all three cases, the dogs were outside without a human.
