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The Cougar


Cholo

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I'm surprised that this hasn't been brought up here. Last night on the news, there was a reported sighting of two cougars near Lindenhurst, Il. Yes, two cougars, that's the first I've heard of two. Also it was reported that there were sightings near Hunt Club and Millburn Rds. The rumors have been going on around here for about a month. There is supposed to be a professional tracker hunting them, and he's seen signs of them. I haven't seen any cougars, but I've seen coyotes. We saw one coyote near the Waukegan airport near Wadsworth Rd. and Lewis Ave., and I saw one run across Russell Rd. into the golf course in Kenosha Co. just east of Greenbay Rd. last week.

 

Two weeks ago we were fishing at the Wadsworth canoe launch and had our licenses checked by a forest preserve cop. I asked her about the cougar rumors. She said they were just rumors, at that time. Last week I heard on the police scanner that a woman saw an injured cougar near the Gander Mountain forest preserve, and that it was hopping like a kangaroo. This wasn't confirmed. The kangaroo comment raised a red flag for me. Over the years there have been kangaroo sightings in the Chicago area. It's one of those "urban legends". Also on the scanner, I've heard reports made to the Kenosha Co. sheriff concerning the cougar. Sunday morning some where in Kenosha Co. a paper delivery person reported seeing two big cat like eyes staring at him in the dark.

 

There are caches and benchmarks in the Gander Mtn and other areas near by.

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Just be careful - cougars in the wild normally will run away from people, however, cougars in the near-wild (such as encroaching suburbs) have developed abnormal cougar behavior (such as no fear, stalking, or attacking humans).

 

On the lighter-side, the local zoo had a kangaroo that kept on jumping over increasingly high fences to escape and wander around the neighborhood. "Mel the escapee kangaroo" was a local legend! The zoo never did figure out how to keep him in, and he kept on escaping until he died of an infection.

My brother was visiting from out of town and was complaining about how it must be a slow news day because they did a 20-minute segment on Mel the kangaroo dying. I looked shocked and said "Mel died????"

Edited by SnowLeopard
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Until a carcass shows up, it will probably just stay rumor/legend. It certainly is possible with all the weird pets folks keep these days. But it is unlikely. The tracker certainly doesn't want to say he can't find any sign of the cat. He's getting paid.

Look at it as a good thing - all the feral cats and dogs in the area become prey.

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Maybe that was a Kane County Cougar... :rolleyes:

Well, it couldn't be a Kenosha Mammoth, they are now extinct.

 

The history of these sightings seems to be between the Fox River and the Des Plaines River, and they are taking a northward course. If the cougar hurries, it should be able to make it up to Hartman Creek in a couple of weeks. This will keep Cathunter on his toes. :D

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I heard this on the scanner today. A Lake Co. forest preserve ranger reported possibly seeing a cougar with an animal in its mouth near Casey Rd. and Milwaukee Ave. This area is west of Waukegan and north of Libertyville. He also reported seeing tracks and large scat. Scat is the GC.com equivalent of doot. The hired tracker was brought to this area with his dogs. I also heard that the tracker was working with the Lake Co. health dept.

 

For those interested: my scanner is a Uniden Bearcat 800XLT. It is not 'trunking' capable, but I do have the frequencies used in the trunking system programmed into it. Lake county agencies use a trunked system.

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No Cougars sited in Palatine, as far as I know, but there was a BIG coyote in the backyard behind me last week at about 7:30 am.

He jumped the fences from an almost standstill like it was nothing...

 

My not so bright dog was busy jumping up at squirrels in the tree and didn't even see him.

 

Neighbors have seen a couple of coyotes along 53 and they say they have been sited in the woods and on the bike trail.

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The cougar controversy may have run its course.......for now. The last I heard on the scanner was Sunday when a Lake Co. sheriff deputy said he was going 10-8 from one of the cougar sites. He sounded relieved to be done with this cougar nonsense. Tonight on channel 7(ABC), it was reported that the "authorities" believe that there is no cougar in the area. A den was inspected and it turned out not to be a cougar's. Tracks were checked a bit more closely and were deemed to be most likely those of a large dog. :mad:

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It's been almost a month now, but I heard on the scanner today that a woman in Libertyville,Il reported seeing a cougar in her backyard. The address given was near Il rts 21 and 176. This is a fairly well populated area about one mile west of the DesPlaines river. This makes me think of the old fable about the boy who cried wolf, nothing is ever new. :lol:

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It looks like the cougar took July off. Yesterday at about 1:30pm I heard that it was reported to a Kenosha Co. deputy that a cougar was sighted by a truck driver between Trevor and Wilmot. I assume this was along Hwy. C. He also saw tracks in the mud. I thought I heard that an attempt was made to contact the "wildlife" dept., with no success. I'd never heard of this dept. There's the possibility this dept. was created to deal with the recent Country Thunder activities.. :huh:

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