Posted on 08/23/2008 7:31:22 PM PDT by SJackson
BULL VALLEY – While driving down Thompson Road on Wednesday morning, Robert Poyner Sr. couldn’t believe his eyes.
“At first I thought it was a couple of small deer,” he said. “And then I said, ‘Them ain’t deer; they’re two large cats.’ ”
Images fresh in his mind from when a cougar was shot and killed by police in Chicago’s Roscoe Village in April, Poyner said the two animals looked similar.
He described them as about the size of German shepherds with golden brown fur and long tails.
“My first instinct was to call 911,” Poyner said.
“I figured I’d better report it to somebody, do something to let people know that these animals were around.”
About 7 miles away in Woodstock, a woman driving on Route 14 near Doty Road on Sunday about 9 p.m. reported having to brake for an animal that looked like a cougar.
Woodstock police Sgt. Richard Johns said it was the only report that the department had received.
Bull Valley Police Chief Norbert Sauers said it wasn’t unusual for people to call in and say they had seen a cougar.
“I’ve heard people over the years say that they’ve seen something around here, but nothing confirmed,” he said. “I would have to say the chances of them seeing a coyote is closer to the truth.”
But Poyner insists that he saw a pair of cougars.
“I’ve seen deer; I’ve seen coyote,” Poyner said. “I’ve seen a lot in my 25 years in McHenry County, so I know what I was seeing. I wear glasses, but I’m not blind.”
Stacy Iwanicki, a naturalist with the Volo Bog State Natural Area, said that cougars tended to be secretive animals that stay away from people, but that they should never be approached.
Back off and give them space, she said.
“If he did see a pair, we could be looking at a future with the cats settling down, or they might just be moving through,” Iwanicki said. “Then again, it’s an unconfirmed sighting, and it’s hard to speculate until we get further evidence – a picture or footprint.”
Iwanicki said cougars could travel long distances easily.
“These cats could be in Wisconsin by tomorrow or Iowa by the weekend, depending on which direction they’re traveling,” she said.
Iwanicki said cougars could travel long distances easily.“These cats could be in Wisconsin by tomorrow or Iowa by the weekend, depending on which direction they’re traveling,” she said.
Probably heading for Denver, they heard there's a rat convention
They’re take care of the stray house cat and dog problem.
They’re take care of the stray house cat and dog problem.
If they’re heading for Denver they most likely are PUMAS.
Cats are interesting creatures...
I wonder if it was a pet turned loose or if they are coming back on their own?
And the toddler issue too if people are not careful.
A few years ago, the Nebraska Game and Parks Department denied that there had been any cougars in the state since the times of Lewis and Clark.
Until one day the Omaha paper published a three page article on the return of the cougar, with pictures, and a few statements from non government experts that yes they really were there.
I live on the IA/IL border right now, and we have cougars here in Scott county on occasion. Heck, two years ago a guy shot one during bow season on the IL side of the river.
“Stacy Iwanicki, a naturalist with the Volo Bog State Natural Area, said that cougars tended to be secretive animals that stay away from people, but that they should never be approached.
Back off and give them space, she said.”
Very nice Stacy Naturalist. Noe go do up your hair and take care of your nail polish.
Cougars are expanding their ranges southwards and eastwards to follow the growing herds of deer. Soon they will join the black bears and “Coyotes”(really wolf/coyote hybrids) as an even more dangerous re-addition to our eastern fauna.
and thanks to Naturalists like Stacy and the Peta and anti-hunting crowd, they will soon be feasting on humans, dogs, cats, and domestic animals east of the Mississippi.
I’v been on that road.
Used to be farmland, until parts of it were developed into housing tacts, and others were kept as “natural” habitat by the wealthy who came out from Chicago and froze up all the zoning in the area. Bull Valley is an incorporated village north of Crystal Lake where the deed restrictions do not ALLOW smaller lots than about ten acres or so.
Lots of game cover there.
We have cougars here in SE Michigan. Someone videotaped a pair walking along a tree line within 10 miles of my house and there have been a few sightings within 5 miles of here. Lots of wolves in the upper Pennisula...I wonder when they’ll show up down here....
...and people wonder why you named your kids “Decoy” and “Bait.”
You forgot the little fella there...
Chum
Uh, no, the cougar is actually native to these parts....
S.S.S.
L
cougars where they aren’t supposed to be ping.
LOL!
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