Elizabeth Brenner never considered herself an animal rights activist, but what happened behind her Riverwoods home in May emboldened her.
Brenner’s 9-year-old son was playing outside her home one morning when he followed a bouncing ball into the woods abutting her property–and found a coyote’s carcass.
“I was quite outraged,” Brenner said, “(particularly) because they left it for my children to find.”
Brenner and other residents said they were dismayed to learn the nearby Ravinia Green Country Club had hired someone to stalk and shoot the coyote.
They said they were concerned not only for the life of the animal, which they believe had pups, but also for the safety of their children.
“He shot a firearm. What if it hit a child? What if it hit a golfer?” asked Kathy Lipschutz, who lives in the area with her husband and child. “This is not the wild, wild west. This is a suburb.”
Neighbors took their concerns to the Riverwoods Village Board on Tuesday night, trying to find out why it was necessary to kill the animal.
The residents also demanded why the village hasn’t pursued charges against the alleged shooter, who apparently violated a Riverwoods ordinance prohibiting the discharge of firearms.
Meeting as a Committee of the Whole, Village Board members told residents the Lake County Sheriff’s Department was investigating.
Trustees said they expect to get a letter, possibly this week, from the Lake County state’s attorney’s office advising whether the incident can be prosecuted as a criminal case.
However, Trustee Richard Small said, an officer at the sheriff’s office has told him “they did not feel, from what they had, they have enough evidence” to charge anyone.
“It seems that all we have is second- and third-party speculation,” said Mayor Roy Stanger.
Stanger urged anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s department.
The issue of coyotes is one naturalists say is heating up, as residential development encroaches on the natural habitats of the creatures.
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In June, a Libertyville resident reported three coyotes killed a poodle outside her home. Wildlife experts say coyote sightings have been on the rise in the greater Chicago area in each of the last four years.
“Coyotes are all over the area,” said Dan Brouillard, a regional administrator for the Illinois Division of Wildlife. “We’re not going to change the behavior of the coyote or reduce his population. We’re going to have to learn live with them.”
Residents surrounding the Ravinia Green Country Club said they were resigned to such a co-existence, but the club felt otherwise.
A spokesman for Ravinia Green, who asked not to be named, said the coyote was “acting in a threatening manner” toward golfers and even chased one woman who was walking her dog near the course.
“It was aggressively running on to the golf course at anyone who came by,” the spokesman said.
Club officials contacted the village, who directed them to the Lake County animal control office. The office no longer handles live animal removals from around homes and suggested a private firm.
The club said it contracted with a legitimate animal-removal firm, and that the coyote was shot on club property before running into the woods, where it died. Club officials declined to name the firm.
What the club failed to do, according to neighbors and Mayor Stanger, was tell anyone they planned to shoot the animal.
“They did not have permission” to shoot it, Stanger said. “We’re very upset about the fact that it happened and that we weren’t informed.”
As for taking action, Stanger added, “our hands are essentially tied unless somebody comes forward with some solid evidence. We’ve been pursuing it ever since we found out about it, (but) we can’t try a case on hearsay.”
“It is unconscionable to fire a firearm in a residential area,” said another angry resident, Sherry Graditor, who has lived in Riverwoods for three years.
“Had he missed, that bullet could have traveled into somebody’s yard and killed a kid,” Graditor said. “All the way around, it’s an abomination. It should never have happened.”