Arlington Heights park system alerting residents to coyotes

A caller to an Arlington Heights Park District hotline regarding a coyote led to signs being posted calling attention to the animal's presence on the village's far north side, officials said.

Signs with a headline "Attention: Coyote Sightings" are at Nickol Knoll Park off Nichols Road and a sand volleyball court just to the north at Creekside Park near Buffalo Creek on Schaefer Road. Both parks are about a half mile south of Lake-Cook Road.

Park district spokeswoman Anita Pacheco said the coyote signs recently went up after someone who apparently spotted the animal called the agency's hotline. She said the signs are "a precautionary measure" similar to one recently taken after a coyote was spotted at Raven Park just north of Hintz and Arlington Heights roads.

Signs also have been used by the district to alert visitors to Lake Arlington about diving red-winged blackbirds, Pacheco said.

Complete with a color photograph of a coyote, the eye-catching sign with the park district logo notes how the animal is important to the ecosystem and helps keep wildlife populations under control. Residents are warned to not feed or attempt to trap coyotes.