When a train conductor in Wisconsin pulled in to work last week in his car, he had an unexpected decoration on his grill. A coyote was somehow wedged in, and it was alive but injured. The local animal control officer took Vern, as he was named, to a wildlife rehabilitator, and he is expected to recover. Only how did he get wedged in the front of a car to begin with?

The driver remembers hitting something with his car during his commute, but didn’t see anything in the road that he hit. (Yes, train conductors usually drive cars to work, not trains.) When that happens, most people assume that perhaps they hit an animal and it was unhurt, or ran away injured. He continued to work and pulled into the parking lot with a beautiful coyote in his grill.

A local animal control officer described the coyote as “docile,” which isn’t normal for wild predators. He was in shock and had three leg fractures. After treatment at a local wildlife rehabilitation facility, Vern will be released back into the wild in the spring.

The train conductor was described as “distraught,” and he was the one who came up with the name “Vern.” He’s raising money for the rehabilitation center.

Motorist Arriving At Train Station Finds Coyote Wedged In Bumper [CBS Chicago]