Cougar Killed in the North Side Chicago Suburbs

Late Monday afternoon, April 14, city police in Roscoe Village (a north side Chicago suburb) were tasked with an unusual duty -- killing a 150 pound cougar. The big cat was sited earlier in nearby Wilmette (about 14 miles to the North.) According to the Chicago Tribune, he probably travelled via the area's train tracks, ending up deep inside a heavily populated area. Be sure to check out my links to this article, which documents the confrontation superbly.

Ben and Kate Greene reported their shock at hearing gunfire while Ben was bathing their 10-month-old son. Not surprisingly, Kate gathered up their 3-year-old, and came flying into the bathroom, screaming her head off! The 5-foot-long tan cougar ended up dying in the alley adjacent to the Greene's garage. Besides taking out the big cat, the police shot their air-conditioning unit full of holes as well; however, the Greene parents were simply glad their two young sons weren't hurt! Ben was quoted by the Chicago Tribune stating, "As far as I witnessed, they did a pretty good job. Hypothetically, if there were kids in the yard and the cougar jumps in, what would the cougar have done?"

My husband Warren lived in Chicago for many years after finishing up his studies at the Art Institute in Chicago. Even though we're Michigan residents, born and bred, Warren, our son Vincent, and I all root for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears. We've watched many games at Wrigley Field and spent many happy hours in the big "Windy City" of Chicago. It's just hard to imagine a cougar prowling along the streets there! In contrast, we routinely share our neighborhood space up North near the Canadian border with bears, cougars, bobcats and wolves. Just this past fall, a large bobcat was reported in the nearby Gogamain Swamp, after being misidentified as a cougar. He's freely roaming there today, after wildlife experts properly identified him from paw prints and spoor. Cougar tracks and spoor are common in the western section of Mackinac County.

Last summer, in my own back yard, I spotted a large wolf transiting the cedar swamps behind our house. For the past four years, we've raised a small number of mixed breed turkey hens and toms, just as pets. The summer tourists and local residents all loved seeing these turkeys wandering around the yard and up and down the road. Their spring poults were a delight for everyone, although most were eventually consumed by the local hawks and ravens.

The turkey droppings were the worst thing about housing them, and eventually they attracted the interest of this particular wolf. First, he attacked the pet ducks and geese of our neighborhood restaurant, Little Bob's New Frontier, located one mile north of our home. At some point in the early fall, he caught wind of the turkeys. Earlier in the season, the last female had been eaten by a coyote, who lives across the road in an abandoned campground. She was nesting, and the coyote managed to corner her while she attempted to protect her eggs. I found the eggs all eaten, and the remains of her feathers and some bones about a half mile away, with coyote prints nearby.

The two male toms were more cunning, and took to sleeping on the rooftops that summer. In the last days before they disappeared, they seemed agitated and flighty in the mornings. It was as if they were afraid of something in the nearby woods. The last time we saw them, they were strutting up the road, toward the nearby Castle Rock Campground, where they liked to beg for scraps of bread from the summer campers. We never saw them alive again. Late that same afternoon, I was cleaning my son's room, and all the windows were open. I heard or sensed something in the tall grasses outside his back window. When I looked down, I saw the back of a large, gray Timber Wolf, which is commonly spotted along Mackinac Trail. The sight of this big wolf gave me a chill, as well as a thrill. He meandered down the small hill, out into the cedar swamp and back toward the road, apparently tracking a couple of "turkey croquettes" for an early afternoon snack.

Up North, the wildlife is most often trapped and relocated deeper into the adjacent Hiawatha National Forest or other wilderness areas. Wolves are dispatched ONLY in situations where a particular individual wolf targets one of the small organic beef herds, or directly threatens someone. Personally, I've spotted wolves before, on relatively rare occasions. In my own experience, they usually choose to evade human contact. This particular wolf approached our house soley for the purpose of taking out our two large turkeys. We haven't spotted him since the turkeys and neighborhood ducks and geese were consumed. I did not feel personally threatened by the wolf, although it made me a bit uncomfortable to see him so close to the house!

For my own personal safety and peace of mind, I always bring along our large Great Dane-Black Lab mixed breed dog Comet, while I walk through the woods and along the nearby Lake Huron shores. The dog is large, standing almost waist-high and topping the scales at 115lbs. While a wolf (or bear) could probably kill him, they're more likely to avoid attacking such a large animal. Actually, wolves tend to prey on mice, voles, and other rodents, as well as deer and beaver. It's well documented that they have often attacked (chained) dogs and approached residents in Alaska, but usually only after a rough winter or problems with their normal food supply. In all the many hours and miles I've trekked across the trails in this area, I've never encountered a wolf (or bear) while hiking.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by those residents of the Chicago neighborhood. It's unfortunate, but when this particular cougar turned on the police officers tracking him, they had to kill him. It's one thing to have large wildlife transiting cedar swamps and wilderness forests in Upper Michigan. On the other hand, their presence inside the large urban area of Chicago (and adjacent suburbs) should be limited to zoos and wildlife parks. We all regret losing such an amazing animal. Hopefully, future situations can be resolved like they usually are here in Upper Michigan, by trapping and relocating the animal back into his normal habitat.