A 150-lb cougar (aka puma, mountain lion, panther) was shot and killed in an alley in Roscoe Village tonight. I can understand that a city like this one doesn't have the resources or experience with wild animals to deal with a big cat like that one running loose, but the pictures are sad. I don't know if that was some kook's pet that was set loose or escaped, or if wild cougars are really ranging this far into urban areas due to diminishing habitats or what, but it was just trying to get by, man. Just trying to eke out a damn puma existence in this cold world.
In recent days, there were sightings of a big cat up in North Chicago (which, incidentally, I know has a pretty wide variety of wildlife, from working up there years ago, when I myself sighted several coyotes, a fox, and what looked to me like a badger, along with the frequent skunk, woodchuck, deer, and snapping turtle appearances), and then more sightings down the Metra line a bit in Wilmette. Those types of reports are almost always debunked -- eyes play a lot of tricks, and a bobcat, or even a feral tomcat, can look bigger than reality in twilight conditions -- but perhaps this time they were accurate.
Yesterday I saw an Animal Control vehicle prowling around outside my place here in the brackish zone betwixt Andersonville and Uptown, which probably was something completely unrelated, but ... maybe not. At any rate, if it's not the last one, I don't want anyone's kids or pets to get hurt or anything, but I wish we could come up with another way to solve the problem.
On a lighter note, here's a classic Smothers Brothers bit with a little something to say about pumas. "Take it, Tom!"
Boil That Cabbage Down
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