Wild Illinois

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by Drover

You never know, with the size of some of the rats in this town, it may very well have been a rat. I once saw a rat on the Belmont Red/Brown Line platform that was so big that at first glance I seriously thought it was a cat.

In one Chicago Apartment building I lived in, the rats were as big as a medium sized dog. Thankfully I only saw those huge ones when they were already dead!

[j33]

All this talk of rats reminds me of the time where I was taking the 'el' home to Rogers Park (back when I lived there many many years ago), and when the doors opened at Addison, much to the shock and disgust of everyone on the train, a huge rate darted out from under the seat, ran through the doors, and down the stairs. In the moment of shocked silence that followed, someone said dryly "I guess it was its stop".

[Drover]

Now that's classic Chicago right there.

[runninfiend]

Coyotes are everywhere in rural Illinois. They are among the craftiest mammals and can survive pretty anywhere. They are tough to hunt, around here they hunt them with packs of dogs. I root for the coyotes, though.