....going to make you a sammie....just in case. >8-D
Posted on 10/01/2012 4:20:29 PM PDT by george76
Police in northwest suburban Schaumburg issued an alert Friday after a motorist reported seeing a large animal resembling a cougar.
...
Police say possible cougar sightings have been reported recently in Highland Park, Northfield and Winetka.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicago.cbslocal.com ...
....going to make you a sammie....just in case. >8-D
For years we CT residents reported sightings of fisher cats....and the DEP kept denying it. They were flooded with *proof* and finally gave in, especially people who lost pet cats to them, admitting they *traded* a stock of wild turkey to Maine in exchange for fisher cats. Now they are everywhere in the state.
A cougar? In Schaumburg? That just makes no sense at all, unless someone broke open a zoo, or had an illegal pet that they decided to drop off in Busse Woods like many do with their dogs they don’t want anymore!
I can’t even imagine a cougar in the NW suburbs. I had a run-in with one on my driveway getting home from work late one night in Colorado, but behind the neighbor’s house was a “green area” that you could walk straight into the foothills from, so I understood why it was in our neighborhood. I can’t even fathom where these animals would come from!
And, how in the world would one find its way to Winetka? Did someone try to “re-introduce” these in the Cook County Forest Preserves or something? I mean Skokie Lagoons, and Hubbard Woods are right outside Winnetka, but a COUGAR, in those areas? Makes no sense to me!
Yeah, but Busse Woods isn’t connected straight through to all of the other forest preserves. AND, it’s not THAT large of an area. The Elk herd doesn’t roam free - it’s in an enclosure on the grounds.
As for a long series of rivers and lakes — it’s NOTHING like that! Maybe you’re thinking the area by Chain O’Lakes on the Fox River (which is many miles to the North and a little East)? Or perhaps the Des Plaines River which runs about 20 miles east of Busse Woods? The forest preserves that border the DP River are not very large at all, and they are frequented by too many people to have an animal like this roaming through the forests without attracting a LOT of attention... And, none of these towns border either the Fox River, or the Des Plaines River. Plus, to get to the rivers, or in between the forest preserves you’d have to go through large urban/suburban areas. Don’t get me wrong - it’s not like there isn’t any “green” left, but it doesn’t all hook up together nice and easy to provide a vast amount of land for a cougar to live off of. And, people in Elk Grove would definitely notice if the herd was thinning as well.
I grew up in the area, and trust me, cougars are NOT something that should be around there naturally at this point. And the one seen in Winnetka? I can’t even fathom that...
Really??? Well, I guess Lake Forest is on the “edge” of the development, or at least it was last time I was there (lots of very nice homes, and very large “lots”). May I ask when you lived there?
I guess if you saw a lot of them in Lake Forest, the sightings in Highland Park don’t seem quite so far-fetched after all. As for Schaumburg though - I can’t imagine a cougar living in the forest preserves around there. And this animal was seen in the MIDDLE of Schaumburg right across from the library - it’s hardly on the “edge” of development (unlike things were say 15 years ago with tons of farm fields past Poplar Creek).
I guess stranger things have happened, but I never would have imagined in a million years that I’d hear of a mountain lion/cougar/puma strutting around the ‘burbs... LOL
A 150 pound cougar was was shot to death by the Chicago Police on the north side of Chicago,near Wrigley Field in 2008. In the days preceding, cougar sitings had been reported in the Northern suburbs around Skokie, Wilmette, Winettka Stomach contents indicated cougar had been dining on deer and smaller animals.
Illinois? Figured this was SoCal.
“If you want a car or truck, go see Cal...”
http://www.mydogspot.com/video.htm
Look at a detailed topo map of the area. There is a lot more “Greene” space than people think. And yes, the elk are in an enclosure. That’ll slow a cougar down for about 60’seconds.
it’s a 69 (don’t read anything into that on this post) but that will do.
It’s AWESOME.
RLTW
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