Pack of coyotes break glass door trying to chase puppy into home

A pack of coyotes chasing after a puppy broke several panes of glass in the door of a west suburban home Friday as they tried to chase the dog into the house.

There were three dogs — Lexie, Snoopy, and Bella — in the fenced-in backyard of the home in the 0-100 block of South Herbert Road just after 1 a.m. The homeowner, Roger Nelson, had just called them in when he heard a rustling in the darkness. Moments later he saw four coyotes racing towards him and his dogs.

“They jumped the fence, the golden retriever and I have a German shepherd puppy she made it inside and I ‘ve got a little beagle and I mean he barely made it inside,” Nelson says. “If they would have got one more step they would have grabbed him.”

Nelson quickly let the dog in but the coyotes, perhaps driven by hunger, were not deterred by the louvered glass door that came between them and a potential meal. They began to paw at the rear glass door of the home, trying to get at the barking puppy.

“They jumped on the door here and started busting the glass with their paws,  jumping on it, growling,” Nelson explains. “I mean, the hair was standing up on their back, you could see all their teeth.”

Roger's wife Lauren heard the commotion and came running downstairs to see the coyotes trying to break in their home.

“I literally, really thought they were going to come into the house,” Lauren says. “I was so scared for the dogs, for us, for the kids, it just scared me to death.”

The coyotes were finally scared away when Roger fired a high-powered BB gun at them, striking two of them, police said. The dogs were unharmed.

“I shot them, they yelped,” Roger says. “A couple of them ran down, one looked like he almost fell down the stairs. When we came back out they were nowhere to be found.”

When police arrived, the coyotes were gone, but several panes of glass on the outer door were broken and the coyotes also broke glass on the main entry door as they tried to get at the puppy.

Police Sgt. Bill Gutschick said in a statement that in his 25 years on duty, this was the first time he's heard of coyotes trying to get into a home while chasing a pet.

Riverside has had other recent reports of coyotes attacking pets, Weitzel said, and on Jan. 3, a 7-month-old Bichon-Poo puppy was killed in the 100 block of Addison Road.

Weitzel urged residents to be aware of wild animals in the area.

“Coyotes do not know the difference between pets and the wild creatures they hunt, so try to protect pets by accompanying them outdoors,” he said.

“Use a short leash, as coyotes have been known to attack animals that are on long leashes. Most importantly, use caution near any wild animal.”

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.