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Biologists have confirmed that a cougar shot to death by Chicago police came into the city by way of Wisconsin.
The Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control says a DNA sample obtained from the cougar was a match to a sample from a cougar seen in southern Wisconsin's Rock County on January 18th.
Animal control administrator Dr. Donna Alexander says officials hope additional testing can further delineate the cougar's genealogy and paint a better picture of his life.
The remains of the 124-pound, 5-foot-4-inch male cat have been transferred to the Field Museum.
Chicago police shot the cougar as it ran through a residential North Side neighborhood on April 15th.

time to carry a pistol while bow hunting deer in IL?

I hear they're here, how many I wonder?

If the state knows something and isn't informing us hunters about them, and a child or hunter etc...gets attacked and killed, something will hit the fan!

Have you ever shared this before Matt? That is one cool pic and I'm glad I got to see it because the only cat I've ever seen in IL. was black just like this one. Wow!!

That's what happens when the states restrict hunting on these animals or ban it all together. It sucks for the animal that it has to be taken down by several inaccurate shots from cops that can't shoot instead of one skillfully placed shot from a hunter. But that's the way it is.

It has happened many times already with not just cougars. The "something" hits the fan for a little while until people have had enough time to forget about it and then it just goes back to the way it was. Liberals impose restrictive hunting regulations based on inaccurate numbers from biased surveys and the numbers of these animals comes back up. So much so that again they come back to residential neighborhoods in search of food and we have another incident.

Cougars in particular are extremely territorial. Most of the Cougars found in populated areas like that are believed to have been pushed there by larger Toms protecting their territory. It's either move out or get killed.

Uncle Matt, that Chicago Cougar was killed a few blocks from my old apartment. (If you saw my other post, I live in Chicago and one of the burbs) I knew some of the Cops that were going after it. That was a crazy day in my neighborhood.

In January I was out pulling down a tree stand right outside of Chicago and found some tracks that are AWFULLY strange. If any of you have knowledge in what big cat tracks look like when they are walking, let me know. Each track is over two feet apart and they run in a straight line, at one point walking along a log. The tracks arent perfect due to the snow but man, they sure look interesting. The Funny thing is that in October and November I had deer on my trail cam every night, then around the beginning of December until January I had exactlly one deer on them. If anyone wants me to post a pic, I'll put a few up. You can be the judge.

Here is a cougar print (top) vs a dog track (bottom).





Mountain Lion (top image)

1. Claw marks generally absent. If present, they will be sharp and narrow.
2. Four tear-drop shaped toes, grouped asymmetrically.
3. Trapezoidal-shaped heel pad.
4. Three-lobed heel pad with two indentations along rear margin.

Dog (bottom image)

1. Toenail prints generally present will be broad and blunt.
2. Four, round-shaped toes, grouped symmetrically.
3. Triangular-shaped heel pad.
4. Heel pad lacks distinct indentations and three-lobed appearance.