Coyote captured in Loop is set free

April 4, 2007 (WLS) -- One day after a coyote paid a visit to the inside of a downtown restaurant, the animal has been released back into the wild.

The coyote, nicknamed "Adrian" by animal control workers, is now back in its natural element in a suburban wildlife preserve in northwest suburban Barrington.

Adrian is the first coyote to be found in the Loop but not the first one to be found in an urban area. Animal Control has picked up three this year and six last year.

The uninvited guest may have been looking for food Tuesday when it wandered into the Quiznos sandwich shop on east Adams near Wabash. That sent all the customers out the restaurant's front door, which was apparently open because of the warm weather.

Coyotes are quite territorial and quite good at adapting to what their territory presents. They have been in the Loop before, and will be again, but probably not with the same fanfare that greeted the coyote who went to Quiznos, 37 E. Adams.

The coyote is a young male, roughly a year-and-a-half old, about the time he would be striking out on his own, which he surely did Tuesday.

Of course, it's a bit odd that a coyote would seek refuge in a Quiznos sandwich, but that's what Adrian did, strolling east on Adams in the post-lunch crowd. He walked in the front door that had been propped open because of the warm weather. He settled into the beverage cooler after unsuccessfully trying to vault the counter.

"It did not growl. It did not make any sounds. It just tried to get in. Apparently it was scared and tried to shelter itself," said Ray Zavalas, Quiznos employee.

For 40 minutes, he sat there quite passive -- next to the Gatorade -- a sort of odd celebrity, as dozens of passersby came to see the coyote who came to dinner and take pictures with their cell phones. Imagine what Mr. Coyote thought about all this attention.

Soon, Taurus Drake of Animal Control arrived with his catch pole, and Adrian showed his teeth during his brief and rather inglorious departure from Quiznos.

Before his highly publicized sendoff Wednesday, Quizno workers said good-bye and brought Adrian a prime rib sandwich on garlic bread. He couldn't eat it.

"We want him to have a natural diet, which isn't processed meat. It's raw meat. And he we are releasing him where there is food," said Dawn Keller, Flint Creek Wildlife.

After getting the clean bill of health, Adrian's moment of freedom had come. It took about five seconds before the coyote darted off to find a new home far from the Loop. Experts say the male coyotes have big territories, but probably not big enough where he will make his way back into the Loop.

Quiznos says it is definitely going to have its doors shut from now on. Quiznos is making a $1,000 donation to animal control.

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