Notice the cat running behind the police officer who is facing the camera. I find this really disturbing!!!

This cat was shot and killed in Roscoe Village, on the North side of Chicago, after officers unloaded a reported sum total of 8 shots into it. Some reports I have read said it was 3 feet long, and 150 pounds, which is ridiculous.

This thing surely looks longer than 3 feet long to me.

MSNBC:

NBC5’s Alex Perez reported that the police cornered the animal against a fence, and then the animal tried to attack them. Police said the cougar was 5 feet tall and weighed approximately 150 pounds.

“It doesn’t look like it’s a very thin cat,” said Mark Rosenthal of Cook County Animal Care and Control. “It looks like it’s got good flesh on it — it was eating well.”

I love cougars; they’re magnificent. But I’d rather look at one in the zoo or in a lovely coffee table book or on the discovery channel than face one when I’m walking my dog when I’m unarmed. They’re known as puma or mountain lions, their range in the wild is 150 miles or so. But I’m a realist; people should know what to do when faced with one; and that is - don’t run, lock eyes with them and don’t act like prey. Grab a stick or a weapon of some type and make yourself look really big. They can jump 15 feet, and they are really quick, so you can’t outrun them. As opposed to a bear attack - where you’re supposed to ‘play dead’, when confronted with a cougar, you’re supposed to make a lot of noise and put up a fight.

And never turn your back on them.

The typical idiots came out of the woodwork complaining that the cops killed this cat, but the thing attacked them; which they will do when cornered. Animal rights activists wanted to know why it wasn’t tranquilized and why wasn’t animal control involved? Part of the reason why it wasn’t tranquilized is - it takes a good 20 minutes for a tranquilizer to work on an animal of this size. The other is - if the cops had not killed it, it surely would have mauled them. It’s simple common sense; although it doesn’t help the city of Chicago with its love of gun control.

I think it was a good thing they did when this large cat was roaming in a heavily populated area…but even though there have only been two sightings of mountain lions in the Illinois area since the 1860’s - it doesn’t mean they aren’t here.

Coyotes have expanded their range, too.

See some fascinating videos and more on the Illinois cougar sightings at Illinois Cougar Watch.

This is from a possible Cougar sighting in Findley, Illinois.

At Cougar Watch, they call this small collection of photographs inconclusive. But when you see them in succession, it’s readily apparent that this is a mountain lion, who is curious; and is even taking a moment to look inside the window to find out what is going on in there. The last photo shows the cougar in the darkness, and then his image fades and what is left is eyes glowing in the dark. The pictures were taken when there was a slight dusting of snow on the ground. Still, it’s chilling when you think that someone would open that door to let a dog or cat outside…a waiting fast food meal for a cougar of this size.

Cougars are tan in color, although when they’re born, they have leopard-like spots. This video shows what a cougar looks like, and how it moves.

The reason why hunters are not safe in a tree stand.

Video by Jason Guerrettaz near Farina, IL on November 17, 2007. The cat was about 280 yards from him when he took it. This is an excellent video, and there is no doubt that it is a cougar.

From this page at Illinois Cougar Watch.

After reading all of this, and having heard the reports of cougar sightings for the last several weeks, I’m thinking it would be a good idea to have a firearm handy.