A big cat in Illinios

[jrdudas]

A few years back I was temporarily living and working in the Chicago area.  I got off work at about 12:30 AM and was driving home.  Home was Yorkville, which is out in the country (or was then) and I was on a major two-lane road.  There was almost no traffic at that time of night and I was wide awake.  Down the road in the glow of my headlights I saw something run across the road.  It was too big to be a dog, and not the right shape to be a deer.  It had a long flowing tail that had a "bobbed" look to the end of it.  I finally decided that it had to be a big cat, as in mountain lion or female african lion.  It was well off the road by the time I reached the spot where it crossed and since it was dark and there were woods on either side nothing more could be seen.

The next day I was telling some co-workers about what I saw and they all got this look on their faces that said "gee I wonder what he's been smoking".  Well I neither smoke nor drink and as I said, was wide awake at the time.  A couple of days later there was a story on the local news about a lion that escaped from a wild animal park in the area.  It seems that the animal was pretty good at eluding capture, and the authorities advised folks to be on the lookout.  They didn't think the lion was agressive, but a hungry animal is unpredictable.  The story disappeared from the news, so I never heard whether they caught it or not.

JR

[swiftman]

There was a big cat seen a few times a few miles west of the farm I grew up on in east centrel Ill and there was one seen out side of the town where my brother lives 70 miles south  west of here. there was also one hit by a train in southern Ill about a year ago.

[Glanceblamm]

Heard about the one hit by the train last year.
I usually hear a credible report every couple years. I think that they are true just based on the territory (around 250 sq mile) that a cat has.

[pintaildrake]

my brother and i tracked one for a few days w/ coon hounds....saw the cougar twice. but then we wisened up and thought "what the hell are we gonna do with it when we do get him treed.. we only have .22s" it was fun.. a few months later we saw deer in trees...CPO said they were just passing through.. i dunno..

[Charlie Tango]

I grew up in Yorkville.  It sure is not in the country anymore.  I left there in 91 and move to Somonauk.  So for Somonauk is like Yorkville used to be.

What year did you see this cat?

[1911crazy]

I have been constantly seeing them in Vermont and i caught one again in my headlites the other nite.  I estimated this mountainlion to be around 180 to 200lbs its no house cat.  This is no excaped mountainlion or pet these have been around a longtime. I have tracked them for many years now. Its a bueatiful animal buit it has a dangerous side to it too.  As long as it keeps its distance and doesn't threaten me I won't hurt it.

[bullet maker]

Heard about the one hit by the train last year.
I usually hear a credible report every couple years. I think that they are true just based on the territory (around 250 sq mile) that a cat has.

Yes that one was hit by a train here in Northwestern Okla.last year. It had a radio collar on it, and had been taged in some other state up north . It had traveled 700 miles in like 2 months? Any how a  later follow up on the same story from the newspaper, the train crew said that was the third one they had run over by the train in that year.

bullet maker

[John]

Hey bulletmaker....I'm back, thanks again.

Here in Okie land a few weeks back there was alot news media attention from the Broken Arrow area over the sighting of a big cat. They closed down a park, and kept the school kids inside for a week or so to keep somebody from being eaten.

Maybe there was a big cat passing through, but the tracks that were shown on the newscast were large dog tracks......haha, you could see the toenails in every print. :-D

[bullet maker]

Hey John
  Yeah, I saw that on the t.v., It was dog tracks being shown. However some local neighbor in that area, saw a lion eat his dog poodle, out his back door :eek: they tried to trap it , but to no avail. I dont know why they didnt think to get some guys in there with some lion dogs, to trap it out?
   Also, they had a sighting up on turkey mountain park this summer by a women jogger. They never found that cat also.
   There around however. Seen em myself out here in my neck of the woods.

bullet maker

[Glanceblamm]

the train crew said that was the third one they had run over by the train in that year.

Quite interesting, Bulletmaker and leaning away from coincedent. The trackbed grade around here is anywhere from 12 to a whopping 20feet above the fields in the rural areas.
The towns of course are always after the railroads to maintain an even grade through the town.

Do you suppose that the cats prefer to travel this higher ground when possible in the intrest of scenting & seeing game?

[bullet maker]

I think so glanceblamm , like you pointed out, it gives them a little higher elevation for see off in the distance further.
   I remember a run on the train from Tulsa, Okla to Ft Scott Kans. About midway there is a town called Afton Okla. About 5 miles west of Afton, I always noticed this one hugh mt. lion, lying on an outcropping about 1/4 miles from the tracks. I first noticed when I started to carry my 10x50 binoculars, to work with me. With those binoculars, I noticed alot more game in the distance. Now the other railroaders thought I`d been drinking, cause they had never seen him before, then one day during hunting season, some hunters were deer hunting over on that ridge, and the mt.lion was standing along the road bed of the tracks. Well, needless to say to say alot of the railroaders, were eating crow after that. :-D  :-D  :-D .There was about 4 other train crews that got to see him, cause the other train crews would give a heads up to the trains coming and going through there.
    The lion just keep pacing that whole time watching those hunters that was in his turf. The lion never did get run over, he seemed to know where his space was beside the tracks. He appeared to be healthy, about 7ft from nose to tail, and about 180lbs. according to the train crews, that saw him up close, beside the tracks.
      For along time after he was last seen, the train crews prayed that they didnt break down in that area and have to walk the tracks, to find the problem, especially at night. :eek:

bullet maker