Illinois has done it again. They made sure to kill another rare cougar as quickly as possible.

I’m embarrassed by the Illinois DNR, certain residents, and other government institutions when it comes to self-awareness. Embarrassed at the lack of tolerance for other living things. It seems that any wild animal, be it cougar or wolf, is gunned down or gleefully peppered with arrows as soon as it crosses the border. Cougars aren’t even protected in the state despite being extirpated many years ago.

It’s true, Illinois isn’t exactly wild country. I’d say it’s the least wild state. I’d also classify it as the least scenic state. Illinois wasn’t born this way. We did it.

On November 20th (I was out of town or I would have been all over this story), an Illinois Department of Natural Resources conservation officer responded to a call from a farmer in Whiteside County.

Arriving on the scene, the officer found a cougar hunkering inside a concrete tunnel beneath a corn crib. Allegedly, at the landowner’s request, and after contacting peers, this officer pulled out his rifle and blew away the cougar. The cougar was not attacking a human, nor did any human appear to be in danger. The cougar was not attacking livestock, nor did that appear to be in progress. Instead, it is far more likely that this cougar was hiding and fearful of its predicament. And if you look at the photo at the link I posted, you’ll see this “horrifying” animal doesn’t even fill out a pickup tailgate. Why not haze the rare cat off the farm? It’s not that hard. I’ve hazed bears from campgrounds, me, myself and I. And if that fails, why not tranquilize the animal and release it into wilder country? I think the answer is pretty clear: It’s just so much easier to whip out a gun and kill than it is to do the right thing.

We’ve seen this so many times, where people don’t understand something, can’t understand something, and the answer that comes quickest to their sludgy minds is to blow the thing away.

Bravo.

When I was in Montana last month filming bighorn rams, a kind rancher named Watts let me use his land. A few of the bighorn would emerge from the national forest and graze/play on his property line. Watts was such a nice guy he even invited me over for dinner. I enjoyed speaking with him a great deal, and I as I hiked the property boundary looking for wildlife, he would tell me stories. The ranch had been in his family for over a hundred years. He was 80. his son and daughter had their own houses on the property, too, and planned to raise their children there, just like Watts. They had seen their share of wildlife, more than most backpackers ever would (most hikers seldom understand that the real key to wildlife-watching is sticking to the valleys). Watts told me a tale about a big “Tom” (the name some use for especially large cougars) that would enter his property.

Watts and his family did not shoot the big cat. They considered it an honor, even though they were raising cows. I asked Watts if he felt threatened. He told me that “he’s never felt threatened by any animal a day in his life on the property”. Imagine that. This is a rancher in cougar, wolf, and grizzly habitat. A rugged place where gigantic extrusions of Precambrian belt rock spike the sky, with the occasional ponderosa pine hanging on for the ride. A place where in December it gets dark at 4 p.m. and stays that way until 8 a.m. On the day I left, Watts and I watched his calves and cows frolicking in the meadow. He took great pleasure as a calf with eyes of wonder investigated a magpie.

Some people just can’t handle the country, like some people can’t handle their liquor, or some officials can’t handle a bit of excitement when real wildlife decides to appear in sleepy NW Illinois. The DNR continues to sit on its ass concerning this majestic predator. They’ve toyed with the idea of adding the cougar to the state protected list, but with the exemption that any landowner can decide what happens to a cougar on their property.

Uh, no. That’s not protecting the cougar, that’s telling a few knuckleheads who can’t grasp what an ecosystem is to help ensure cougars never breed in Illinois again.

The mundane flourishes here, in Illinois, and rarity is persecuted. And if value is indeed measured by rarity, then the IDNR just destroyed the most valuable thing in the state.