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Chicago area pet owners beware: It's mating season for coyotes

Chicago area pet owners beware: It's mating season for coyotes
Chicago area pet owners beware: It's mating season for coyotes 00:50

CHICAGO (CBS) – Romance is in the air this season, for coyotes.

It's mating season for the animals, and the Forest Preserve of DuPage County is warning people to watch out for them wandering around homes.

Make sure to keep dogs on a leash, and cats indoors.

If you do encounter a coyote, don't run. Try to appear large to scare them.

CBS 2 spoke with an ecologist back in October about being careful with coyotes in our area.

"What you have are juvenile coyotes and essentially they are leaving mom and dad's territory, and they're striking out on their own trying to find their town territory," said Dan Thompson. "But if you can imagine the Chicago region, it's pretty well established with coyote pairs. So these guys are really nomadic right now."

The coyote mating season typically runs through May.

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