Cary, Illinois · McHenry County · Facts checked Oct 2026
Cary's answer for an orphaned or injured wild animal is a conservation district phone line.
Asked what to do about a wild animal in a house or yard, the village gives residents a number for information on orphaned or injured wildlife: the McHenry County Conservation District Wildlife Resource Center, (815) 728-8307. For trapping, it sends them to the Illinois DNR's wildlife website.1 Village Public Works does pick up dead animals from the street.1
Who handles an animal problem in Cary?
| What's happening | Who to call |
|---|---|
| Someone was bitten or scratched by a wild animal | Wash the wound with soap and water and see a doctor right away. The health department or animal control should also be told.11 When a pet or another animal that can carry rabies bites someone, village code has its owner notify Cary police at once, and the police notify McHenry County Animal Control.3 Police non-emergency line: (847) 639-2341.2 |
| A bat is loose inside your home | If you woke up with it in the room, or it was near a child, keep the bat and call your doctor or the health department.11 Exposure to a bat or a bat dwelling is reported to McHenry County Animal Control, (815) 459-6222.5 |
| A wild animal that looks orphaned or injured | The village directs residents to the McHenry County Conservation District Wildlife Resource Center, (815) 728-8307, for information.1 The district says its staff take wildlife questions over the phone.6 |
| A wild animal acting sick or threatening people | McHenry County Animal Control, (815) 459-6222. The only wild animals its permits cover are sick or injured ones, or ones that pose an immediate threat or public health issue.5 |
| A dead animal in the street | The village Public Works Department, (847) 639-0003, which says it responds as quickly as possible.1 |
| A stray dog or cat | Under village code, a loose animal whose owner can't be found may be impounded by the village and kept at the Cary Police Department, and one that isn't claimed within 24 hours goes to McHenry County Animal Control.3 The police non-emergency line is (847) 639-2341.2 Not a wildlife operator. |
| A calm animal living in your attic, walls, chimney or under the deck | McHenry County Animal Control has no permit to disturb healthy wildlife, and it says a wildlife removal service can help with what it isn't permitted to handle.5 That can be this site's advertiser or anyone on the Illinois DNR list. |
The Wildlife Line isn't part of the Village of Cary or McHenry County.
What happened with the 2025 bat case?
On August 28, 2025, a bat was collected from a Cary home, and the McHenry County Department of Health confirmed it had rabies.4 The residents had woken in the middle of the night to find it in the room with them.4 Two people and one animal were exposed, and the county called it the first human exposure of the 2025 season.4 The county said both people were getting post-exposure treatment (PEP) and the animal was getting follow-up care.4 A bat in a room where someone slept is exactly what the bat row in the table is for. For a colony rather than a single bat, see bats in the house.
How does the village want garbage kept?
- Covered and tied. A garbage can needs a close-fitting cover, and a plastic garbage bag has to be securely closed (Sec. 8.08.020).7
- A day on either side of pickup. Containers can't sit on a street, alley or other public place more than 24 hours before the scheduled collection, or more than 24 hours after it (Sec. 8.08.040).7
- Behind the front of the house the rest of the time. Between pickups they go in an enclosed structure or behind the front building line, never in a front or exterior side yard.7
- Nothing meaty in the compost. Compost piles are allowed, but pet waste, meat scraps and other garbage that may attract animals or vermin are banned from them (Sec. 8.08.080).7
Where is the open land around town?
Two state-dedicated nature preserves sit in Cary or on its edge. On the hillside south of Cary Junior High School, the 4.6-acre Cary Junior High Prairie protects dry gravel prairie, and the state lists thirteen-lined ground squirrels, skunks and rabbits among its resident mammals.9 On the village's eastern border, north of East Main Street, the restored grassland of the Main Street Prairie is where vesper, savanna and grasshopper sparrows nest, along with sedge wrens.10
The McHenry County Conservation District's Hollows Conservation Area sits at 3804 US Highway 14 in Cary and covers 478 acres, with sand prairie, wet silt loam prairie and basin marsh among its natural communities.8 Its larger lakes were made by joining a series of small gravel-pit lakes to give fish better habitat, and the district credits that kind of restoration for the site's diverse mix of plant and animal life.8
Wildlife isn't limited to preserves. The same district notes that landscaped yards and houses with decks, porches, attics and chimneys have created ideal habitat, and that it isn't uncommon to find some species, raccoons among them, at higher densities in urban areas than in rural ones.6 If one has made its way into the house, the matching guide is a click away: a raccoon in the chimney, squirrels in the attic or, for a skunk, a den under the deck.
What are you hearing?
Footsteps above the ceiling or scratching inside a wall can come from several animals. This guide to attic sounds walks through the differences, and after-hours help explains which problems can't wait for the morning.
Sources for this page
- Village of Cary, Animal Control FAQs. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Village of Cary, FAQs (police non-emergency line). Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Cary Municipal Code, Chapter 6.04, Animals, Sections 6.04.120 and 6.04.140. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- McHenry County Department of Health, Bat tests positive for rabies, first human exposure of 2025 season, Aug. 29, 2025. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- McHenry County Department of Health, Animal Control, Wildlife. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- McHenry County Conservation District, Living With Wildlife. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Cary Municipal Code, Chapter 8.08, Garbage Disposal. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- McHenry County Conservation District, The Hollows Conservation Area. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Cary Junior High Prairie. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Carl and Claire Marie Sands Main Street Prairie. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Illinois Department of Public Health, Rabies (animal bites; bats in a sleeping area). Checked Oct 2026.
Written and checked by The Wildlife Line. Spot an error? Tell us through the About page.
Also: McHenry County · Crystal Lake · Algonquin · Lake in the Hills