McHenry County Blog

The Maltese poodle whose lung was punctured by a coyote in early January was heathy on Easter,

In January my niece’s Maltese poodle was attacked by a coyoteas her father took the dog out for a potty break in Lake Zurich.

The coyote seems to have been waiting by the garage door and was not intimidated by the man.

Since then, the Chicago Tribune has highlighted the problem for small pet owners.

The Chicago Tribune ran a big story on coyotes in the suburbs.

A coyote was spotted in Johnsburg shortly after the Lake Zurich attack.

When a Maltese poodle escaped from its owner near Pingree Road between Crystal Lake Avenue and Route 14, I feared for the worst.

A family in the Crystal Lake Manor feed it, and the little dog was lucky.

I am happy to report that my niece’s Maltese poodle has recovered from its punctured lung.

The Village of Johnsburg sent out the following message today:

This little fellow got a punctured lung when a coyote bit him in Lake Zurich.

A resident recently contacted the Village Hall to express concern with coyotes that are coming onto private property in residential neighborhoods.

We caution you to monitor your pets in your yard especially if you reside in an area frequented by coyotes.

For more information go to the “Animal Control” department on McHenry County’s website at www.mchenrycountyil.gov and click on the “Wildlife” link  at www.mchenrycountyil.gov and click on the “Wildlife” link.

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And I would like to remind people that a coyote attacked this little dog in Lake Zurich right after he was taken out of the side door of a garage on a leash.

When the owner got back to Milwaukee, animal control came calling to see if the dog had contracted rabies, even the dog was operated on in Arlington Heights.

No Illinois official inquired about rabies.

While on a leash just outside of a Lake Zurich garage's side door, this little Maltese poodle named Muppet was attacked by a coyote. Surgery for a punctured lung takes place Tuesday in Arlington Heights.

Within twenty-four hours I heard two stories about coyotes, one in Crystal Lake and Lake Zurich.

New Year’s Eve we were sitting in a Country Club Additions Lakewood home with a sliding glass door.

The lady of the house told of seeing what she thought was a coyote staring through the window at her one day.

She checked with a cousin from rural Illinois and confirmed that the dog-like animal with “dead eyes” was the predator.

Then, this morning, my brother-in-law was taking his daughter’s little dog out for a walk.

As he opened the side door to his garage, a coyote attacked the dog.

Shouts drove the coyote off.

One wonders if the coyote had planned the attack after seeing dogs walked there previously.

The Lake Zurich home is close to the Isaac Fox Elementary and Lake Zurich Middle Schools on Cuba Road.

My only experience with a coyote was on Route 47 driving into Yorkville during the late 1990′s.

A flock of coots on Crystal Lake.

Unlike these coots that I saw on the way to vote at the Crystal Lake Park District Main Beach House, this old coot had a mission besides survival.

It was to participate in the democratic process.

Turkey vultures, which as a kid I called buzzards, were flying around the Main Beach House.

As I was leaving the parking lot, however, I saw turkey vultures circling the Main Beach.

A turkey vultue flying over the Main Beach in Crystal Lake.

Was that significant?

Inside, I found the voter participation was as dismal as at other precincts in the Crystal Lake area.   Both Algonquin Township Precincts 7 and 19 voters cast their ballots in the little back room of the Beach House.

I voted about 5 o’clock.

Was it crowded?

Judge for yourself.

Besides myself and the judges, only one voter was exercising what I would consider his patriotic duty when I was at the polls.

One of the judges asked if i had seen the coyote on the beach.

Vultures, coyotes…what going on?

On Crystal Lake Main's Beach stands a fake coyote. A sign says, "Property of the Crystal Lake Park District. Do not remove."

It seemed to be working.

If you were a goose and saw this from the air, would you want to land nearby?

The only geese I noticed took off flying away from the beach.

So, did the lack of competition in the Crystal Lake High School Board, City Council, Park Board and limited competition in the Grade School District deter people from voting?

Did they think nothing was at stake when officials that will levy 90% of our property taxes were being elected?

Was the vibrant, but under publicized, McHenry County College Trustee race not enough to bring people to the polls?

Or was it, at least in these two precincts, the lurking scavengers that scared people off?

The two precincts have 1,097 voters.  At 5 PM, 89 had voted.

That’s 8.1%.

Of course, that does not include early and absentee votes.

Truly, as I pointed out earlier, anyone could have won any race.

This isn’t Wily Coyote.

It’s one in the back yard of “Heck of a Guy” blogster Allan Showalter north of Crystal Lake. He wrote an article about it.

Showalter thought it was a wolf, but a friend suggested it was probably a coyote.

I have no idea, but I have never heard of wolves around here.

Whatever it was had a friend and they were following a deer that was probably pretty alarmed.

“McHenry County Coyotes” was a name that popped up for a minor league baseball team in the year 2000.

Let’s see how far we can carry this analogy.

The coyotes are the baseball promoter, his unnamed investors and the other folks who stand to make money on building a minor league baseball stadium.

The deer is us taxpayers.

Yeah.

That works.

And, let’s hope the taxpayer hunting coyotes are as successful as Wiley Coyote.

This isn’t Wily Coyote.

It’s one in the back yard of “Heck of a Guy” blogster Allan Showalter north of Crystal Lake. He wrote an article about it.

Showalter thought it was a wolf, but a friend suggested it was probably a coyote.

I have no idea, but I have never heard of wolves around here.

Whatever it was had a friend and they were following a deer that was probably pretty alarmed.

“McHenry County Coyotes” was a name that popped up for a minor league baseball team in the year 2000.

Let’s see how far we can carry this analogy.

The coyotes are the baseball promoter, his unnamed investors and the other folks who stand to make money on building a minor league baseball stadium.

The deer is us taxpayers.

Yeah.

That works.

And, let’s hope the taxpayer hunting coyotes are as successful as Wiley Coyote.