[oucorry]

Cougars, cubs, bulls and now cougars in Chicago?


Chicago improved its reputation for big shoulders this week when a cop took it upon himself to shoot a charging cougar in a North Side neighborhood.

Police are crediting the officer's quick thinking for saving lives in the Roscoe Village residential area where the rogue cougar was taken down, according to wire reports and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Big shoulders, indeed. We'll no doubt be hearing more soon about the hero of the Windy City, who apparently wasn't immediately identified.

According to reports, a Belmont District police captain said four officers fired shots at the mountain lion early Monday evening, some six hours after a sighting of the 150-pound cat sleeping on a porch was called in to the Department of Animal Care & Control.

The fatal scene unfolded less than a block from a grammar school.

"The police officer exercised sound judgment in eliminating a dangerous threat to a community and to small children in making a split-second decision to discharge his weapon after the cougar charged at the officer," said Police Supt. Jody P. Weis.

"There's no doubt that lives were saved as a result of his actions and his fellow officers' attempts to contain the animal away from innocent bystanders."

Backcasts tips its hat to the unnamed cop; we're glad you're on the beat in Chi-Town.

Great police work overall, by the way. After the puma was first spotted by police, megaphones and speakers in squad cars were used to inform neighbors of the imminent danger and to stay inside their homes.

And we thought Chicago was all about bears and cubs and bulls.

One wild note – or perhaps more appropriately a tame one – is that the cat apparently was so healthy and well-fed there was initial speculation the animal belonged to someone. The cougar was to be examined to see if it had a chip that might lead authorities to its owner, reports indicate.

Cougars, as pets? In big cities? Near grammar schools?

[birdman]

Damn cat was probably being raised in a tiny apartment downtown. Luckily, nobody was killed by that thing.