Hanover Park, Illinois · Cook & DuPage County · Facts checked Oct 2026
Wild animals on private property are the owner's job in Hanover Park, but police keep a list of removal services.
The Hanover Park Police Department does not respond to wild animal complaints on private property, and getting an animal off private property is up to the property owner.1 Officers handle wild animal complaints only when there's a clear and immediate threat to public health, safety or welfare.1 What the department does offer is a list of wildlife removal services, available by calling the police desk at (630) 823-5500.1
Who handles an animal problem in Hanover Park?
| 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.9 The agency that records it isn't the same in the village's Cook and DuPage parts; details are below the table. |
| A bat found indoors | Keep your hands off it. DuPage County's health department warns against touching or trying to catch a bat, and asks that it not be killed or put outdoors before animal control and public health have weighed in.7 Cook County's rabies page sends reports of a sick or dead bat to local animal control or police, which in Hanover Park means (630) 823-5500.6, 1 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.9 |
| A vicious or injured wild animal, or one that may be rabid | Call 911 right away. That's how the village asks for these animals to be reported.2 |
| A coyote sighting, or a nuisance complaint about a coyote or other wild animal | Village police don't respond unless the animal poses a clear and immediate threat and all other practical ways of removing it have failed.2 Questions about the policy go to the Code Enforcement Unit Supervisor at (630) 823-5565 during business hours, or to the on-duty police supervisor at (630) 823-5500 after hours.2 |
| A stray dog or cat | For a dog you can hold, or one running loose, call 911 and an officer will come.1 Police don't pick up stray cats, but they can scan one you're holding for a microchip, and a found cat can be reported at (630) 823-5500.1 Not a wildlife operator. |
| A calm animal living in your attic, walls, chimney or under the deck | Removing nuisance wildlife from private property is the homeowner's responsibility, and the village says it's best left to a professional contractor holding the required IDNR trapping permits.2 Ask the police desk for its list of removal services,1 or hire this site's advertiser or anyone on the Illinois DNR list. |
The Wildlife Line isn't part of the Village of Hanover Park, Cook County or DuPage County.
Cook or DuPage: where does a bite report go?
Hanover Park appears under both Cook County and DuPage County in the Census Bureau's 2020 place-by-county file.5 Each county runs its reports its own way:
- DuPage part. In DuPage County, Animal Services takes the report on any animal bite to a person: (630) 407-2800.7 The county health department handles possible rabies exposures, which can include a bat found in a room where someone was asleep: (630) 221-7553, or (630) 682-7400 once the office has closed.7
- Cook part. Cook County has bites reported to the local police department, which fills out a county bite report and forwards it to Animal and Rabies Control.6 That office answers bite questions at (708) 974-6140.6 Its wildlife trap loans and bat removals are listed as services for unincorporated areas, not for incorporated towns like this one.6
How does Hanover Park want homeowners to head off problems?
- Take away the food. The village's coyote page asks property owners to limit easy meals such as pet food, bird food, fruit from backyard trees and trash, and never to set out food or water for a coyote or other animal on purpose.2 The same page asks for tight-fitting lids on garbage containers.2
- Take away the cover. Clear out brush and wood piles, and look under backyard sheds for signs of burrowing.2
- Mind the pickup clock. Nothing goes out for collection before 5 p.m. the day ahead of pickup, whether it's garbage, recycling or yard waste, and containers should come back in within 24 hours after pickup day.3
- No poison bait. Sec. 14-3 of the village code makes it unlawful for an unauthorized person to leave out poison, or poisoned food or drink, for animals on someone else's premises or in any unenclosed place.4
- If a coyote comes close. Don't run. Stand up straight, yell, wave your arms or throw something so you look bigger.2 A compressed-air horn or loud whistle can help, and pets should be walked on a short leash.2 For more on coyotes, the village refers residents to the IDNR's Region II office in Bartlett, (847) 608-3100.2
Mallard Lake and the wildlife living there
The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County gives Mallard Lake's location as Hanover Park; the main entrance is on the north side of Schick Road, half a mile west of Gary Avenue.8 The 948-acre preserve holds the 85-acre lake, the district's largest recreational lake, along with wetlands, fields and scattered woods.8 Among the animals the district says live there are beavers, great blue herons, bullfrogs, eastern meadowlarks, bobolinks, red-tailed hawks and kestrels.8 Its trails continue on to Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve and the Bartlett Park District's paths.8
Coyotes are part of the picture too, though the village notes they mostly hunt at night and are wary of people, so many residents never realize they're nearby.2 The village names raccoons, skunks and opossums as more common than coyotes.2 The guides for an animal that has already moved in cover a raccoon in the chimney, something denning under the deck, squirrels in the attic or bats indoors.
What are you hearing?
Hearing something but never seeing it? The attic noise guide lays out which animals tend to be active at which hours. For a problem that starts late in the evening, after-hours help separates true emergencies from calls that can wait.
Sources for this page
- Village of Hanover Park, Police - Animals FAQs. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Village of Hanover Park Police Department, Dealing With Coyotes. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Village of Hanover Park, Garbage, Recycling & Yard Waste. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Hanover Park Municipal Code, Sec. 14-3, Leaving or Exposing Poison to Animals Unlawful. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 place-by-county file for Illinois. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Cook County, Animal Bite Investigation, Rabies Prevention and Services for Unincorporated Areas. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- DuPage County Health Department, Prevent Rabies: Be Safe, Never Touch a Bat (PDF), July 29, 2026. Checked Nov 2, 2026.
- Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Mallard Lake. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Illinois Department of Public Health, Rabies (animal bites; bats in a sleeping area). Checked Oct 2026.
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Also: Northwest Cook County · Bartlett · Streamwood · Schaumburg