An Illinois woman was walking her dog at night in Wicker Park when she unexpectedly encountered several coyotes. Afraid that the wild animals would hurt her and her dog, the woman began recording the incident and then ran away from the danger.
The woman uploaded her story to her TikTok account, syla.flor. It got over one million views. Many viewers who saw it were surprisingly not very worried for the woman, mostly poking fun at her, and some even criticized her decision to run.
The woman said that she was walking alone at night because she works night shifts and often comes home late. However, her dog still needed to be walked so he could do his thing. The woman was extremely worried for her dog’s safety because he was a small dog, a chihuahua and terrier mix, and could certainly have become coyote dinner if they didn’t manage to escape safely. Thankfully they did, though not before experiencing a horrifying moment where the coyotes were trying to corner them and they had to run for their lives.
Commenters Say Illinois Woman Should Have Stood Ground
Internet users, however, weren’t that worried about her. Many commenters didn’t see coyotes as dangerous, with some users claiming that they were more likely to be scared if you scared them. Others were more shocked that there were coyotes in the city. “Coyotes in Chicago is a thing?” one user asked.
Others, however, were more sympathetic to the Illinois woman, with some giving tips on how to deal with the situation if it happened again. “Scream for the people to come out their houses….! For the future if you see two just know a pack is near by. Those are scouts. They will injury you and call the pack. You are lucky!” one commenter wrote.
A handful of users criticized her for running, saying that it was a poor choice since they claimed coyotes could run faster than humans. Some said that running might trigger their instinct to hunt since only prey run and that the woman should have run toward the coyotes to scare them.
Some commenters shared their personal encounters with coyotes. One user said, “I had 1 run straight towards me before..I stood there and stared him down..He got 6ft away and quickly turned 90 degrees..Btw if you run from predators their instinct is to automatically chase btw.”
Regardless of what the comments said, it’s a good thing that the Illinois woman was safe. Nobody wants to be cornered by wild animals, especially when you’re out with a small dog that looks like a perfect snack.
