Cougar

Monday night, I was torn between two burgers. Brooke was going out to eat with the girls so I was left with a decision: stop at The Waterhouse and get a burger for $2 (great deals on Monday night!) or go to Trader Joe's and pick up some groceries to grill a burger of my own. I chose Trader Joe's.

It was a little before 6 when I left the grocery store, hopping on my bike with a bag full of groceries (including gnocchi) hanging from my handle bars. Peddling down Cornelia, and just past Damen, I noticed a lot of cops and police cars. There had to be at least half a dozen cars and well over double the number of police walking the street and just as I was passing them they were startled into a sprint, running to where I had just rode.

There were plenty of other people out and I was told quickly that there was a cougar loose in Roscoe Village. The spot where I had just peddled by was where the cougar had jumped a 6ft fence and was darting in and out of yards. We were all stunned and of course wanted to keep watching. A cougar? In the city? Not something that happens everyday. A moment later, though, the police were yelling at everybody to move out of the way and a few minutes later they were yelling even louder for everybody to get inside or within a fenced yard (although I am not sure how much good being inside a fence would do...).

Now, if you have ever been to our neighborhood you will know quite well that it is sleepy little village with a lot of young families and people walking dogs. So, you can imagine what a scene it was with the cops yelling at people to get away. Moms were racing with their kids in their Bugaboo's, dog owners were scrambling to keep their pups from becoming a snack, and there was me, a kahki wearing, button down shirted, not so tough guy with glasses on a bike with groceries hoping to get a glimpse of the puma.

I did end up seeing the cougar, just barely and just briefly. The poor animal was running as fast as it could down the sidewalk, about a block away from where I was. What I saw was its backside and it looked scared and lost. The cougar then turned quickly into a yard where it was cornered by the police. I rode a block away from the action, the cougar jumped a fence, landed into an alley, was corned again and that's when I heard the gun shots.

Now, is it strange to have lived 25+ years and never have heard the sound of a handgun outside of the movies? The noise was a much higher pop than I had expected. Kind of like a firework. A whole lot of fireworks.

The police fired from what I could tell was at least between 10 and 15 shots. They killed the cougar to save the town. I rode up once the area was roped off with police tape. A cop showed us his cell phone picture of the animal, an old lady drove by in her car asking if the cougar was shot in her backyard (it was), and a debate was sparked Chicago, questioning whether or not the police did the right thing.