Customer Service

Aldi produce aisle home for an unexpected store visitor

Photo: Adobe Stock

January 23, 2025

Those shopping at Aldi for produce one recent Monday morning were lucky to avoid an unexpected, and very likely, unwelcome customer experience.

It seems a coyote somehow entered a Chicago store, on Kedzie in Humboldt Park, and climbed into the produce section, according to a NBC Chicago report.

Local animal care and control officers were called after someone noticed something furry hiding in a refrigerated aisle. As one shopper reported, those in the store expected to see a raccoon or a opossum pulled out and captured.

Instead it was a coyote, which once pulled out escaped for a brief few moments back into the product aisle before capture by Chicago Animal Care and Control as well as Chicago police which also responded to the call for help.

The animal will be transferred to the city's wildlife rehabilitation partner, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, following a health assessment, according to NBC..

"While coyotes are generally not a threat to humans, it's always best to avoid interaction and for people to secure food sources to minimize encounters," Animal Control said in a statement to NBC.