Animals

What happened to coyote pulled from shelf at Chicago Aldi store? Latest update

The unexpected discovery was seen on video

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No injuries were reported in the incident as Chicago Animal Care and Control and Chicago police responded to the incident.

Officials gave an update Tuesday on a coyote pulled from a refrigerator shelf at an Aldi in Chicago, a moment that was captured on now-viral video.

The coyote was taken in by Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, which has locations in Chicago and suburban Barrington. The rehab center said one of its volunteers picked the coyote up from Chicago Animal Care and Control and brought him to their facility around 7 p.m. Monday.

"The coyote is unharmed, but he is scared," the group said in a post on social media. "We will return him to the wild as he is ready."

The unexpected discovery was seen on video as an officer was spotted trying to pull an animal from a cold food shelf inside the Humboldt Park Aldi store. After some time, the officer grabs the coyote's legs and the animal is slowly pulled from between produce in a startling scene.

Chicago Animal Care and Control and Chicago police confirmed they responded to the 800 block of North Kedzie around 9:45 a.m. Monday "and safely took custody of the coyote."

Chicago police said no injuries were reported in the incident.

Flint Creek said it believes the coyote was attempting to hide from traffic when it entered the grocery store.

"We theorize that the coyote entered an open door of the grocery store trying to escape human traffic and then hid in the refrigerated section in an attempt to hide from people inside the store," the group wrote on Facebook.

They noted that a similar incident took place at a Quiznos in Chicago in 2007.

Experts took the opportunity to remind the public that January through March is coyote mating season, "which often leads to increased activity and sightings as they search for mates and establish territories."

"While coyotes are generally not a threat to humans, it’s always best to avoid interaction and for people to secure food sources to minimize encounters," animal control stated.

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