POLL: Are More Coyotes Coming Into Downtown Geneva?

Frequent Patch contributor asked me a not-so-rhetorical question Sunday at the .

"Have you heard more reports lately about coyotes in downtown Geneva?" he asked.

I hadn't, I said. At least I hadn't seen any in the reports or heard anything on the scanner. Once in awhile, of course, people will report to Tri-Com that a coyote is near their home. A few times, someone has spotted one close to a school.

We live across from so it's not all that unusual for us to spy a coyote in the "back 40" detention area between Good Templar and Moore Park. And of course, see foxes and other wildlife all the time on our multiple daily walks between here and the river.

Maybe some of those foxes actually are coyotes. I would have sworn the animal in Colin's photos, attached here, was a fox, but he assures me it was a coyote—on Sixth Street in downtown Geneva, no less.

It wasn't the first he's seen in downtown Geneva, either.

"In the 10 years we have been here, we have had one coyote sighting, until this year," he said in a followup e-mail. "In the last month, we have had four."

The most recent spotting was June 2.

"Then about two weeks ago, we saw one at Fifth and Franklin on our way to the French market, and when we mentioned it to a vendor he told us he had seen one a few minutes ago with a rabbit in it's mouth. Two separate animals, I think.

"Are others seeing more coyotes in downtown Geneva?" he added. "I'm curious to know."

So am I.

Please take the following Patch poll, and if you spot a coyote anywhere in the city limits, add a comment to this article with the date, time and location. If you've got a photo, attach it here, too.

Maybe together we can track this intruders, no matter how wily they might be.