Wildlife rehabbers theorized the animal ducked into the supermarket, then hid among refrigerated items to "hide from people inside the store.”

Customers gasped as officers made several attempts to yank the coyote out of the shelf, finally pulling the animal out by its tail.

A coyote that was pulled out of the refrigerated section of an Aldi in Chicago yesterday will be returned to the wild, officials said. The wild animal was “likely seeking refuge from the hustle and bustle of city life,” slipped into the store via an open door and then hid behind the cheeses and deli meats to avoid the people in the store.

Shoppers and staff at a Chicago Aldi were surprised to find a coyote hiding in the refrigerated section, prompting a response from animal control.

Coyote sightings and interactions in Chicago are increasing as the breeding season, lasting from January to March, gets underway.

"A coyote walks into an ALDI"sounds a lot like the start of a cheesy dad joke, but that's exactly what happened in a Chicago, Illinois ALDI store this week. And lucky for us, the mayhem was caught on camera.

An officer eventually grabbed what appeared to be a furry tail and furiously pulled before the wild animal shockingly emerged and landed on the market floor.

Officials gave an update Tuesday on a coyote pulled from a refrigerator shelf at an Aldi in Chicago, a moment that was captured on now-viral video.

Animal appeared uninjured and will be assessed before being released back into the wild if that is deemed appropriate.

It is mating season for coyotes, which "generally means increased activity in urban areas, including Chicago," according to Chicago Animal Care and Control.

FULL STORY For the first time, Illinois lawmakers are signaling support for using taxpayer money to assist the Chicago Bears with a potential stadium project—if the team chooses the Michael Reese Hospital site near McCormick Place instead of the lakefront Museum Campus.

Immigration advocates and elected officials in Chicago are urging vigilance and resilience among immigrant communities following reports of the city being the target of deportation raids by the incoming Trump administration in the coming days.