Shoppers at an Aldi in Chicago got one deal they hadn’t bargained for on Monday ― a coyote hiding in the grocery store’s refrigerated section.
Video of the incident, which didn’t look pleasant for the coyote, went viral earlier this week. The footage shows Chicago police officers attempting to wrangle the canine with a mop, then pulling him out by his tail before he scurries back under a cold food display.
Ultimately, city animal control officers arrived and took the coyote into custody, CBS News reported. The coyote was then transferred to the care of Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation.
“The coyote is unharmed, but he is scared,” the nonprofit wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “We will return him to the wild as he is ready.”
The wildlife facility floated the theory that the coyote went into the store trying to flee “human traffic” and then “hid in the refrigerated section in an attempt to hide from people inside the store.”
Speaking to Chicago radio station B96 on Thursday, Chicago Animal Care and Control spokesperson Armando Tejeda said that the coyote is “in great shape” despite the harrowing experience seen in the video.
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Tejeda noted that it’s coyote mating season, and that the animal was likely on an excursion to mark his territory, letting other males looking for love know the area was “taken.”
Responding to a (hopefully kidding) query on Facebook about whether the coyote will be “up for adoption,” Chicago animal control, which as of Saturday had 238 dogs needing homes, responded, “No, but some of his very distant cousins are!”