Mountain lion in IL

[CSGambill]

So... just found out that my sister-in-law hit and killed this mountain lion about a mile from my house last night.

Mountain lion hit, killed by vehicle on I-88 in DeKalb County, Illinois DNR says

A mountain lion was struck and killed by a vehicle on I-88 on Sunday, according to the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources.

abc7chicago.com

 

[Cardboard55]

Does she get to keep it and mount it?

 

[HeavyAssault]

Does she get to keep it and mount it?

As a protected species in that state chances are pretty low if any at all.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Poor kitty….

 

[MtnCreek]

Is that a black game warden? WTF

 

[Hecouldgoalltheway]

The look on his face is perfectly clear:

"I've been telling you motherfuckers, now look!".

 

[Halfnutz]

Is that a black game warden? WTF

ISP

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Now Mountain… be nice. Everyone should know that the crick dicks, fish fuzz and critter cops can come from any corner or community of our great nation!!!

Sirhr

 

[E. Bryant]

The look on his face is perfectly clear:

"I've been telling you motherfuckers, now look!".

That's the story around here as well. The state DNR denies the existence of predators below an arbitrary line on the map, until someone happens to catch one on a game cam or hits it with a car.

I don't understand the big deal. Predators migrate, especially when pressured by humans. Gaslighting by state game officials doesn't change nature.

 

[MtnCreek]

Now Mountain… be nice. Everyone should know that the crick dicks, fish fuzz and critter cops can come from any corner or community of our great nation!!!

Sirhr

I thought they were scared of the woods. Maybe just a Southern thing? I'd ask if the blacks in rural VT were scared of the woods but I know that'd be a stupid question. Lol

 

[JoshPutman]

Michigan DNR denied there were mountain lions here for years, even when caught on game cameras or seen by people.

There was one seen down the road from my mom's house about 8 years ago, when she still had horses. Her and my brother found foot prints out in the pasture.

DNR denied it, saying it was a large house cat or some such bullshit.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I thought they were scared of the woods. Maybe just a Southern thing? I'd ask if the blacks in rural VT were scared of the woods but I know that'd be a stupid question. Lol

The dairy farming and logging communities up near Swanton and St. Albans whose roots go back to their land grants for serving in the Revolutionary War are perfectly at home in the woods…

Our Somali and Boston/NYC transplants here to gangbang and and sell fentanyl… not so much.

Ask our Revolutionary War neighbors what they think of welfare Somalis and gangbangers! They’d sound like Clayton Bigsby hisself!

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Michigan DNR denied there were mountain lions here for years, even when caught on game cameras or seen by people.

There was one seen down the road from my mom's house about 8 years ago, when she still had horses. Her and my brother found foot prints out in the pasture.

DNR denied it, saying it was a large house cat or some such bullshit.

Same in Vt with both catamounts (Vermontian for Mountain Lion) and wolves. Even though both are being seen regularly.

Whatever… here kitty kitty! Nice doggy. Look, unarmed defenseless liberal hikers! Get ‘em!!

Sirhr

 

[Mudburner]

All it takes is one big storm, knock down a fence and "Wild Animal Safari" type parks resident critters are out & about. But there are other ways. Indigenous fauna can walk, and do.

Lots of escaped exotics in South Florida & other suitable places where they shouldn't be... For example, somebody here said armadillos hitch rides on tractor-trailers to get to places they never were before. Cats get out looking for new food/mating territories and can move very long distances.

 

[atomic41]

Their populations have been exploding for a few years so you will see more of this. Some states have opened up hunting on them because there are so many and they are starting to come into residential areas.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Their populations have been exploding for a few years so you will see more of this. Some states have opened up hunting on them because there are so many and they are starting to come into residential areas.

Fewer human hunters makes for more food and a rebound of natural predators. Plus they are very adaptable to suburban sprawl. As are the yummy critters they eat.

Can’t wait for our first “A dingo ate my baybee” moment!!!

Sirhr

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Does she get to keep it and mount it?

Since it’s the state of Illinois, I’m surprised she didn’t get arrested for killing it.

 

[308pirate]

Since it’s the state of Illinois, I’m surprised she didn’t get arrested for killing it.

Downstate IL is a very different place than Shitcago

Interestingly enough "cago" is a conjugate of the Spanish verb "cagar" which means "to shit"

So Shitcago is a redundancy

 

[308pirate]

Is that a black game warden? WTF

Seriously? You are the WTF around here.

BTW no, he's not a game warden. He works for the IL State Police.

This one IS a black Illinois Conservation Police officer tho.........

 

[E. Bryant]

Seriously? You are the WTF around here.

No kidding. That bullshit is getting old.

 

[308pirate]

So... just found out that my sister-in-law hit and killed this mountain lion about a mile from my house last night.

Mountain lion hit, killed by vehicle on I-88 in DeKalb County, Illinois DNR says

A mountain lion was struck and killed by a vehicle on I-88 on Sunday, according to the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources.

abc7chicago.com

View attachment 7978785

That's a big fucking cat............IDK if it's the photo perspective or what but his head looks as big as that dude's.

 

[E. Bryant]

Indigenous fauna can walk, and do.

Housecats can move a few miles per day. I don't know how much further their big cousins can move, but give them a season of food supply pressure due to weather or whatever, and I'm sure they can cover more territory than humans are comfortable accepting.

Wolves and bears don't bother me, but there are enough videos of big cats stalking humans that I'll admit to being ever so mildly concerned. That being said, we're all at far greater risk of dying in a car crash on our way to the woods than we are of getting attacked by a natural predator.

 

[308pirate]

That being said, we're all at far greater risk of dying in a car crash on our way to the woods than we are of getting attacked by a natural predator.

That depends on where you live............rural Alaska, not so much.

 

[powdahound76]

The odds are still pretty low….
Have thrown more rocks at more bears than most people ever see in a lifetime.

Suckers were trying to get my stringer of salmon and eat for no work.
I was 100% a poor and that really was a big part of my annual diet. (College years)
Did have 12g with 3” slugs to back up 1” river rocks…


As to the cat, very normal size to me.
More than 1 friend has one on a wall, so have seen em up close. Used to find their tracks within 50 yds of my cabin in the mtns pretty often.
Woke up to one screaming at 0200 once. Thats a creepy sound

This happened in the close town.
My good friend Pete’s place is in the background.

Doorbell camera footage shows unexpected guests in Colorado town

Parker the Snow Dog has a warning to Georgetown's residents after Ring footage showed mountain lions in the area.

www.9news.com

Scariest thing that walks the woods is on 2 legs.

 

[mtrmn]

I don't know but I been told, that the state wildlife dept denying the existence of these type animals was an effort to keep the Fed's nose out of state business. Lest they come in and declare state and private lands unusable to protect the "endangered" animals.

 

[Rthur]

IDNR has denied the presence of cats for quite a while.
This may have changed recently.

R

 

[Fig]

That's the story around here as well. The state DNR denies the existence of predators below an arbitrary line on the map, until someone happens to catch one on a game cam or hits it with a car.

I don't understand the big deal. Predators migrate, especially when pressured by humans. Gaslighting by state game officials doesn't change nature.

That is because the DNRs in almost every state are infiltrated by woke, leftist morons who deny reality and live in their own fevered dreams. Most are no longer "conservationists", but have become environmentalist, religious fanatics. It is with mistruth/lies like this that they developed horrible policies that damage both humans and wildlife.

"Mountain Lions were eliminated in the state of Illinois before 1870s due to habitat loss and overharvesting."

This is an obvious misdirection and practically a lie. No one has ever "harvested" mountain lions (for food) unless they were starving. We fucking killed them all, as in genocide/species elimination because we cannot share habitat with them, period. High order predators like bears and lions were killed on sight because they are above us on the food chain, and they will kill our children as an easy meal. This is exactly what these fucking, evil morons are trying to bring back, and there is going to be a terrible backlash when they succeed. I hope every last one of these horrible little people with their evil black hearts are held to account, since it is probably not going be their children who are eaten. Instead of managing (euthanizing them when they overpopulate specific ranges) lethal populations they think it's great that they are infiltrating back into populated areas. This is why they pretend and deny and lie to people's faces. It is going to end very badly. If I see a bear or a lion in my suburban yard I'm fucking killing it, period. I suggest any of you who don't want dead children do the same, because I don't live in environmentalist fantasy land, but in the real world where high order predators aren't tolerated around my family, period.

 

[DIBBS]

There are a number of cougars (the animals ) in Eastern WA, and our deer herds are pathetic compared to 30-40 years ago. Add to that wolves.... bears... coyotes.... and sadly the widespread decent hunting opportunities that once existed are fading in the rear view mirror.

There's Still no hunting opportunities for wolves, <libtard state> & Washington Department of no fish and wildlife often deny attacks on cows, even though ranchers have them on game cams. Wolves were gone for years in the state, and miraculously... all sorts of packs now exist. A few supposedly are killed when cattle herds have a certain number of confirmed attacks... by govt hunters... no way to verify this of course.

SSS

 

[hlee]

Sub-urban sprawl creates the ideal habitat for white tail deer. Anyone want to guess the most common prey animal for a mountain lion? As wt deer populations continue to rise, aided by the break up of large tracts of homogenous land into many smaller sections buffered by “edges” preferred by deer, mountain lion populations expand which causes their habitat boundaries to expand and shift as well.

DNRs, DFG, and PWDs deny the native habitation of all sorts of species within their states (or areas of their states) because it means they don’t need to set up protection/conservation strategies for those species.

 

[E. Bryant]

That depends on where you live............rural Alaska, not so much.

It's still a dramatically overstated risk. I believe there have only been three bear deaths in Alaska since the start of 2020, compared with an average of 75 vehicle fatalities per year (which is still pretty damn low, especially considering the suboptimal driving conditions).

Humans generally suck at accurately perceiving risk. I'm sure there is some good evolutionary reason, likely leftovers from a time where predators were a significant threat.

 

[hlee]

That is because the DNRs in almost every state are infiltrated by woke, leftist morons who deny reality and live in their own fevered dreams. Most are no longer "conservationists", but have become environmentalist, religious fanatics. It is with mistruth/lies like this that they developed horrible policies that damage both humans and wildlife.

"Mountain Lions were eliminated in the state of Illinois before 1870s due to habitat loss and overharvesting."

This is an obvious misdirection and practically a lie. No one has ever "harvested" mountain lions (for food) unless they were starving. We fucking killed them all, as in genocide/species elimination because we cannot share habitat with them, period. High order predators like bears and lions were killed on sight because they are above us on the food chain, and they will kill our children as an easy meal. This is exactly what these fucking, evil morons are trying to bring back, and there is going to be a terrible backlash when they succeed. I hope every last one of these horrible little people with their evil black hearts are held to account, since it is probably not going be their children who are eaten. Instead of managing (euthanizing them when they overpopulate specific ranges) lethal populations they think it's great that they are infiltrating back into populated areas. This is why they pretend and deny and lie to people's faces. It is going to end very badly. If I see a bear or a lion in my suburban yard I'm fucking killing it, period. I suggest any of you who don't want dead children do the same, because I don't live in environmentalist fantasy land, but in the real world where high order predators aren't tolerated around my family, period.

A buddy of mine shot a mountain lion and made chili with the meat. He served me some when I visited. If that was any indication of typical mountain lion meat, I’ll take it over deer. It was f’n good. And, I really like venison.

 

[hlee]

It's still a dramatically overstated risk. I believe there have only been three bear deaths in Alaska since the start of 2020, compared with an average of 75 vehicle fatalities per year (which is still pretty damn low, especially considering the suboptimal driving conditions).

Humans generally suck at accurately perceiving risk. I'm sure there is some good evolutionary reason, likely leftovers from a time where predators were a significant threat.

Yeah, see people in Iowa (for example) deathly afraid of sharks…

 

[308pirate]

A buddy of mine shot a mountain lion and made chili with the meat. He served me some when I visited. If that was any indication of typical mountain lion meat, I’ll take it over deer. It was f’n good. And, I really like venison.

Cat: it's what's for dinner

 

[TicTacTex]

 

[Baron23]

Maybe a bit of a hijack but I'm so proud of this young lady I just want to show you.

She's the daughter of my last boss before I retired....and I'm still very close friends with the whole family to this day. The daughter had a great interest in skinning and mounting dead animals at 15 years of age. Matter of fact, when I went to visit them....they own a nice piece of land west of Bellingham, WA....I asked what I could bring as a present for the kids. Son wanted a hydration backpack as he was an avid mountain biker. Daughter wanted flesh eating beetles....like they use in museums and such to strip meat from bones....so I got her some.

She was always on the look out for road kill to clean up and mount the bones...squirrels and such. But one day she convinced her dad to take her to some local DNR office (not sure exactly what they call it in WA state) to see if they had any dead beavers or similar sized animals. The fella there said no, but they had a mountain lion recently killed by an auto but still in very good shape and she could have that.

15 years old at the time (now 18 or 19)....this was her mount which she has since donated to a local museum. I just think its very cool of her and of her parents to support her interest in this. She wanted a shotgun so I found her an 870 synthetic with 28" screw choke barrel and a slug barrel and bent my buddy's arm to get it for her for next to nothing...$150. Love this young lady and look at this mount...I think its very cool. Ok, sorry for long winded hijack.

 

[E. Bryant]

Yeah, see people in Iowa (for example) deathly afraid of sharks…

There are almost 4000 drowning deaths per year, and yet we close beaches because of shark sightings. It's hilarious.

 

[hlee]

Cat: it's what's for dinner

I wouldn’t have believed if except that I was eating it. To say I was dubious is an understatement.

 

[E. Bryant]

Daughter wanted flesh eating beetles....like they use in museums and such to strip meat from bones....so I got her some.

In the category of "Things I Learned Today"...

 

[Fig]

It's still a dramatically overstated risk. I believe there have only been three bear deaths in Alaska since the start of 2020, compared with an average of 75 vehicle fatalities per year (which is still pretty damn low, especially considering the suboptimal driving conditions).

Humans generally suck at accurately perceiving risk. I'm sure there is some good evolutionary reason, likely leftovers from a time where predators were a significant threat.

Bullshit. You are talking about the most sparsely populated land in North America. It's the largest state in the Union with less people than a small city (750,000 people over 630,000 square miles). Introduce a healthy population of grizzly bears into a major metropolitan, suburban area (750,000 over 50 square miles) and you are going to have a shit ton of daily attacks.

Claiming that grizzly bears aren't dangerous because of few attacks is absurd. There are few opportunities for them to attack, which is precisely what we're talking about when we're talking high order predators in suburban areas.

Your drowning statistic defeats your own argument. How many people go swimming each year compared to drowning?

Ever hear of a "man eater"? This is what they used to call predators who hunted and killed humans. It only takes once for them to figure out that we're an easy meal for them.

 

[Halfnutz]

In the category of "Things I Learned Today"...

I'm really not gonna google "where to buy".

 

[Franko]

This one almost won a Darwin award for being unwilling to put the damm phone down...

 

[Halfnutz]

Bullshit. You are talking about the most sparsely populated land in North America. It's the largest state in the Union with less people than a small city (750,000 people over 630,000 square miles). Introduce a healthy population of grizzly bears into a major metropolitan, suburban area (750,000 over 50 square miles) and you are going to have a shit ton of daily attacks.

Claiming that grizzly bears aren't dangerous because of few attacks is absurd. There are few opportunities for them to attack, which is precisely what we're talking about when we're talking high order predators in suburban areas.

Your drowning statistic defeats your own argument. How many people go swimming each year compared to drowning?

Ever hear of a "man eater"? This is what they used to call predators who hunted and killed humans. It only takes once for them to figure out that we're an easy meal for them.

Chicago is losing the Chicago Bears, I think you have a stellar idea going here to replace them. We'll get Lightfoot to sponsor it and remove some of the trash at the same time.

 

[308pirate]

Daughter wanted flesh eating beetles

That just sounds wrong................LOL

Now I'm gonna have nightmares. Thanks........

 

[308pirate]

This one almost won a Darwin award for being unwilling to put the damm phone down...

How much more backing down do you need to do before killing the fucker?

 

[orkan]

 

[Baron23]

I'm really not gonna google "where to buy".

hahaha...ok, just a little bit more of this story. I ordered the beetles from a website that her Mom provided to me...and the first shipment never showed up!! We laughed hysterically about either some postal employee or a home owner who had it delivered to the wrong address open the package up and find these little buggers.

Second shipment went thru just fine but we never did determine where the first one ended up. haha

But no need for Google...here you go (haha)

Buy Dermestid Beetle Colonies - 100% Healthy, International Shipping

Dermestid beetles are flesh eating and help prepare skull for cleaning. Used mostly to display skulls in museums or at homes. Our beetles are 100% healhty.

bonesandbugs.com

 

[hlee]

There is a big difference between “not dangerous” and “insignificant risk.” Getting sucked out of a window of an airliner at 35,000 feet is dangerous as fuck, but it is unlikely to happen. Getting attacked by a shark will ruin your entire day, but is not a reasonable concern in Indiana. A bear will turn your life into death, but being afraid of a brown bear attack in Oklahoma is unwarranted.

 

[hlee]

How much more backing down do you need to do before killing the fucker?

Depends on the state. I’m pretty sure that in California you have to be in the process of being digested before legally taking self defense measures against a mountain lion. I wish I was being metaphorical.

 

[Fig]

"First responders say they don't believe there is any danger to people."
LOL

 

[E. Bryant]

Introduce a healthy population of grizzly bears into a major metropolitan, suburban area (750,000 over 50 square miles) and you are going to have a shit ton of daily attacks.

I'll admit that I do not have a retort to this claim

On the same note, releasing an orca at the local waterpark would also result in a significant number of deaths, so I guess that's one more scenario to add to my personal Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA).

The mere fact that encountering something would be dangerous does not by itself constitute a threat, since exposure rate is an important factor. Bears encounters are rare and will remain rare because predators largely avoid other predators because such encounters are not beneficial to the goal of survival and reproduction.