Chicago Cougar

It's not a sports team. It's not a 30-45 female stalking rich men or young boys. Earlier this week, Chicago police responded to calls that a cougar was wandering a Northside neighborhood. Though cops had to think whoever reported the cougar was nuts, there was a roughly 5 foot long 150 cougar wandering the densely populated neighborhood.

As police searched for the animal, it appears a game of cat and mouse was going on. In video footage available on YouTube shows as one officer searches for the cougar walking down the sidewalk, the cougar walks about 5 to 10 feet behind the cop.

Officers responded by shooting the animal to protect public safety. I know, it would have been great to have been able to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart, but those take time to knock the lion out and this was a crowded neighborhood.

It is bizarre to think of a city this size, which hasn't always been considered a clean place, to have mountain lions. But Chicago is much cleaner than it was. In fact, if there's a clean enough water source, it's probably a great habitat. Chicago-land forests are brimming with deer everywhere. Since until now, there really haven't been any predators of deer, they've overpopulated the forests and become so used to people and other animals that you can walk up and touch them. Imagine the cougar's surprise the first time he hid, all hunkered down, waiting to attack a dear. As the animal reached the usual attacking distance, the lion jumps up and runs and the deer, and they don't try to escape. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet for a big cat that can make it to the windy city.

See the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK4rYCQLwJM