Coyote Sightings Has Resident Asking Lake Forest for Help

Her research suggests the presence of coyotes in suburban areas is on the increase.

But Nancy Voorhees has also seen it.

At Monday night's , Voorhees recounted during public comment of four instances since this past summer where coyotes have intruded upon her home in the 400 block of Deerpath.

The first occurred on an early summer evening where she and Brad Kunde were sitting in the backyard sipping ice tea when a coyote came into the back yard and sat on their lawn, staring at their dog.

"We screamed and waved our arms and it eventually left," said Voorhees, who has lived in Lake Forest the last 15 years and previously lived in Lake Bluff for 10 years.

One fall morning, Voorhees watched two coyotes walk up the long driveway toward her home, proceed through the property which includes an electrical fence.

"We're now afraid to let our dog out," she said.

Also in the fall, Voorhees and Kunde took their dog for a walk in an area where a leash is not required. A coyote faced off with their dog and appeared to engage in friendly play. Their dog took off after the coyote, and it took some coaxing to get their dog to return.

Right after that instance, Voorhees said she took her dog to a Lake Forest vet, who told her he had treated a dog in the Middlefork Farm area for injuries sustained from a coyote attack. In that case, the dog had been lured into the woods by one coyote only to be surrounded by a pack of eight.

More recently, Voorhees said she heard coyotes behind her property attacking some kind of prey and feeding on it.

"To hear the cries and sounds of whatever they were attacking, it almost made me sick," she said.

She shared her story in hopes the city could take initiative on an education program for residents on how to deal with coyotes.

After she left, three of the five aldermen present indicated they have also had coyote encounters either at their homes or neighborhoods.

Lake Forest Police Chief Joe Buerger said he would put together an education program if aldermen requested one. Burger added that while he was unsure how many calls officers respond to in a year, he estimated it was twice every six months following incidents in neighborhoods.