A 'very big cat' is on the loose in North Chicago, authorities say

A 'very big cat' is on the loose in North Chicago, authorities say

www.chicagotribune.com

Police in North Chicago are on the lookout for what Mayor Leon Rockingham described Saturday as a "very big cat" that authorities believe could be a wild cougar.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This could be bad. I wonder if its really wild or someone's escaped "pet". Keep the kids inside and watch the trees.

www.chicagotribune.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

A cougar would have plenty to eat just from stray domesticated pets and city rats and raccoons. If those populations thinned out there are sure to be some passed out drunks and druggies as well as homeless people to supplement the diet. An abandoned building or sewer could serve as a comfy cave like home.

It appears that the poor kitty cat is no more.

Police shot the cat ten times in an alley.

Cops kill cougar on North Side
www.chicagotribune.com...

A cougar ran loose in Chicago on Monday for the first time since the city's founding in the 19th Century. But by day's end, the animal lay dead in a back alley on the North Side, shot by police who said they feared it was turning to attack.

Where the heck was animal control?

[edit on 15/4/08 by MikeboydUS]

reply to post by MikeboydUS


What, and deny the Chicago police the opportunity to use their three-dollars-a-round bullets to kill something that hadn't done anything wrong and couldn't fight back?

Next you'll be wanting to tell the Portland Police that htey can't aim tazers at two year olds. Man. Why do you hate law enforcement, sir?

But by day's end, the animal lay dead in a back alley on the North Side, shot by police who said they feared it was turning to attack.

Wow how many times have we heard this before....

reply to post by ThichHeaded


Noitce how they say feared, it doesn't say it actually tried to. That's sad. They should only shoot as last priority.

[edit on 15-4-2008 by _Phoenix_]

Maybe this will wake people up. The Wisconsin DNR has been claiming that there are none in the state of Wisconsin for years, yet the DNR agent even disagree. Now take into consideration that alot of the animals that normally stay in the northern region of the state are migrating south, get ready to see this a bit more.

We've been getting more and more report of bears in the areas closer the Green Bay, and now this cougar down by Chicago. The animals want their territories back.

I'm kind of surprised that they didn't tazer it. That seems to be the dominant force policy these days

Ok, I am confused, and the link doesn't work.

There is a North Chicago that is a far north suburb. Was it there or in the city of Chicago?

If it was in the city, maybe it escaped from Lincoln Park Zoo?

reply to post by Enthralled Fan


The old story is gone

This is the updated one, same as the link a few posts up.
www.chicagotribune.com...

The cat was shot at the 3400 block of North Hoyne Avenue in the Roscoe Village Neighborhood.

Poor kitty. Maybe it's for the best. After all, if I had a choice of living my life in Chicago or being shot, bring on the firing squad.

Seriously, though, animal sightings and attacks do seem to be on the increase. And there is evidence that animal behavior is linked to natural disasters... I wonder...

Just food for thought. (And a chance to get in a shot at Chicago.)

TheRedneck


[edit on 15-4-2008 by TheRedneck]

Originally posted by TheRedneck
Poor kitty. Maybe it's for the best. After all, if I had a choice of living my life in Chicago or being shot, bring on the firing squad.

Seriously, though, animal sightings and attacks do seem to be on the increase. And there is evidence that animal behavior is linked to natural disasters... I wonder...

Just food for thought. (And a chance to get in a shot at Chicago.)

TheRedneck

That's my home you're dissin' there, Bub.

But seriously, this is truly sad. Poor thing was killed not far from my home, and about a block from my fiancee's job.

As for animal control, in this city it's a joke. I think they have, like, two guys for the whole city. It's seriously undermanned and under-funded, especially considering how many stray/wild/neglected dogs there are around here. I'm not surprised at all the cougar met a violent end. If anything I am a bit surprised it wasn't flattened by a bus or something.

[edit on 4/15/2008 by The Nighthawk]

I don't know how many of you all have ever had any expirence with a "couger" I call it a "mountain lion". These things can weigh 200#, and they are ferocious. The cops did the right thing gunning it down, it could have killed a lot of people.

A mountain lion would love nothing more than to take a little kid, kill and eat it.

One tried to kill me, and it is mounted in my living room.

There have been quite a few reports of a cougar or cougars being sighted in Waukesha and Walworth counties in SE Wisconsin, not too far from me. I have family there and have worried about the small kids playing in the yard. A shame they shot the poor thing in Chicago. With all the McMansions that have been built over the past few years they are running out of places to go.

What Downtown posted is correct. Animal control in a city that doesn't normally have interaction with large wild predators would have been a very, very bad idea. This isn't an animal you just walk up to and slip a break stick noose around its neck and then casually lead away to a cage. Also relocation to a zoo is impractical since wild born cats don't do well in captivity and releasing is a bad idea since the cat would probably just make its way back to the city, especially if it had a den somewhere there. The officers did the right thing and it isn't a sad story in any way, especially considering no children or joggers were attacked or killed by the pest animal.