Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I guess they are so overpopulated that they are forced to head into the city to find food! Ha! Time for some management!
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6305159&version=3&locale= EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

The only three confirmed cougars in Illinois are dead ones, so i think that we have the cougar management down perfect.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

Did you guys see the video on CNN about the cougar they gunned down in Chicago.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

Yup, saw that news article. Hopefully it was a pet and not a wild one. I more than anyone hate to compete with other carnivores such as wolves, bear ect ect ect.... but if its wild you have to look at why they are moving East. Whether be itfood or habitat it means something.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

YeaI caught the store a couple places....kinda wondered where it came from

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

maybe it came about a100 mile from the northwest, Milton WI

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/news/rbnews/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=786

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/news/rbnews/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=776

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I live about 6 blocks from where it happened and the North Side of Chicago is going crazy about it right now. I want to first point out that I wish they could have somehow trapped this thing and released it up North somewhere. These Cats are beautiful to see in the wild. That being said though, this was the only solution at the time. All of these bleeding heart liberals think that Chicago issue tranquilizer guns to every officer and they should have tranq'd it, even if it took days. I even heard some lady suggest they set a trap with a trail of popcorn leading to it. I thought natural selection would have weeded people like that out a long time ago :D. Seriously though,I don't think these people realizes that this thing jump 15 feet straight up and kills Elk. I wouldn't want to be walking to the train at 6 AM and have a cougar 20 feet away growling at me. They killed this thing in 4 blocks from 2 schools. Then we got people here saying that it was unnessesary that they fired 13 shots from there hand guns. I do a decent amount of mule deer hunting in Wyoming and know there are a lot of mountain Lions near my camp, which Is why I carry my glock with me. Now, if I ever had a mountain Lion running at me, you better believe my clip is going to be emptied.(Idon't think and never want this to happen, thats for sure!)Sorry, I just have to vent a little. These people as telling theChicago Copsthey are trigger happy and stupid, yet they are the people whocome blazing with lights and sirens when something is wrong.

I would loved to have seen this Cat trapped and released, but in downtown Chicago, it just wan't possible. Exotic animal experts and zoologist in Chicago say thee copsdid the right thing. Even if it was tranq'd, it would take 20 minutes to set in and a wounded cat running around the city, well, I don't even want to think about that.

By the way, size on this thing was about 150 pds, 4 1/2 feet long (8 w/ tail). Pretty big cat, wouldn't want that running around the city with my friends kids running around. I do want to reemphasize that I in no way condone the killing of animals if they are not going to be eaten, but in this case, there eas no other choice. I really hope all these liberals can understand that.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

Some biologist checked out the cougar and said he was definitely a wild specimen (how do they know that?).

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

Damn, it was in fact a wild one that is pretty strange. The other two cougars were in the western part of the state in some isolated areas by the river. Weird.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I don"t care what some city, self proclaimed, clown says, that is a kept cat. Just think, if that cat came all the way from the black hiils of the Dakodas, does anyone think he"d be as heavy as he was? I think some bozo had him and either got away, or let it go. More people would have seen it. About 20 25 miles to the north people say they saw a couger 1 or 2 days before, could be the same cat, but that don"t mean it was from the wild. Just a little hard to belive, Just like the coyote that got into a Quiznos down town late last year. The dog walked into the store like he wanted a sandwitch of the day, he to 'I think' had human contact.......IMHO

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

Yodel,

They are commonly reported in Iowa and two have been found dead in western Illinois previously. If it was actually a wild one, it was a much shorter trip than from the Black Hills.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

The Sun Times said that the state believes it came down from Wisconsin. They aged it as a two y.o. male and think that we was looking to establish a new territory and followed a track line south. Quite a stretch but anything is possible.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I beleive by law, ifa wild animalan adopted pet or something from a zoo it has to be microchipped, apparently they found no chip embedded in the animal. Thats what I have heard, not sure if theres any truth to it or not...

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I heard on the news last night the cat's DNA was checked and was found identical to cats in South Dakota. Long way from home.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I'm not sure, but what little i've read indicates that the cougars in Iowa and elsewhere in the midwest have pretty much been spreading out of the Black Hills area for the last couple of decades.So, i would assume that they would all have similar DNA whether they are brand new arrivals or crossed the mississippi years ago.

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I agree 100% that Cougar wasnt starving at 150lbs he was a pet and either got away or was let loose from a person that should not be allowed to have an animal like that..

MrGobbler

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

One spotted right down the road this morning around 04:30 near Abbott Park, North Chicago/Waukegan area by a security guard.

Tones you are correct my friend.

MrGobb I am sure that cougar ate very well in our area. With all the deer around these parts he had great eats.
As for you yodel you think that cougar traveled in a very short time, not a chance. That thing had claws and captive
cougars are declawed.
Take the wolves that came from Minnesota/Canada border that ended up down here in southern Wisconsin they had the
radio collers for proof. The one that was hit by a car was pretty dang healthy.
We have 3 seperate confirmed sightings of cougars since this one was shot the other day down here.
So give the animals some credit and with this being said lets see what comes out from the DNA testing.

Kind of like Illinois having no bears in the state so they have to make up some schmucks and call them the bears.:D;)

T

RE: Illinois Cougars...Again!
 

I still don"t belive that that couger came from the wild, cats are way to alusive to come that far into a urban area, IMO. coyotes,and fox will set up house close to humans, we all know that, but a cat, I just find it hard to belive. I know there"s plenty of food around for a couger to live, and that most kept cats are de-clawed, but the cop that shot it said it walked up to himm, and he layed it out.