ChicagoShe pops up suddenly from behind a green tarp and trots through the construction site, pausing every so often to swivel her large, triangular ears. The beep beep beep of a cement paver and the deafening roar of buzzsaws are just background noise to 1242.

A few weeks ago her mate for life, 1244, was shot near this new high school going up outside Chicago. Now Lauren Ross, a field technician with the Max MacGraw Wildlife Foundation, has pinpointed the radio-collared female’s location with a telemetry unit, the constant ping revealing her exact location. Even so, it’s rare to see urban coyotes during the day, as most have learned to be active at night to avoid people. But 1242 has