Coyote stops by Chicago Quiznos

CHICAGO (NBC) For one day, at least, the roadrunner is safe. It seems the coyote is hankering for another kind of fast food.

Employees and customers at a downtown Chicago Quiznos sandwich shop were stunned to see a coyote walk through the propped-open front door Tuesday afternoon and lie down in a cooler stocked with fruit juice and soda.

It happened in the Loop at the Quiznos at 36 E. Adams Street, where a large crowd of both media and passers-by snapped pictures of the wild spectacle from the window outside.

Animal Control was called to the scene and took the coyote, who was unhappy to be removed, away. AC said the coyote's leg was slightly injured, and that's why he found the cooler so comforting.

"It tried to jump over the cooler," said one employee, who, like the rest of the Quiznos employees, ran out when the coyote ran in.

But he didn't make it so he just settled inside it.

"It wasn't aggressive at all," restaurant manager Bina Patel told the Chicago Tribune. "It was just looking around."

Employees and customers calmly cleared out of the restaurant, though some took the time to finish their sandwiches and snap some cell-phone photos.

"This one definitely I will definitely remember forever. A coyote in downtown Chicago," Quiznos employee Rick Torres said.

The city captures 10 to 15 coyotes every year, especially in the spring when they are most active, said Anne Kent, director of Chicago Animal Care and Control.

Veterinarians will examine the coyote and, if he is not injured, release him into the wild.

Posted by Chantelle Janelle