By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 25, 2008

CHICAGO -- Authorities are investigating whether an arson fire near Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's summer home in Michigan last month is linked to threats against the mayor from someone furious about the April 14 killing of a cougar that had roamed into downtown Chicago.

Chicago FBI Special Agent Ross Rice said that "a number of letters were received at various locations throughout the metropolitan area blaming Mayor Daley and others for what the writer called the unnecessary death of the cougar, and threatening to take revenge against the mayor and other individuals." Rice declined to reveal more details of the letters, one of which was sent to an elementary school near where the animal was killed.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Daley received a letter mentioning his wife and children and threatening to burn his home.

The April 24 fire did not damage Daley's house in Grand Beach on the coast of Lake Michigan, but it destroyed the house of a neighbor, Brad Griffith, vice chairman of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Another house's garage was destroyed. Berrien County, Mich., investigators determined that the blaze was caused by arson and said it appeared to have been started around noon on grassy dunes below Daley's home.

Daley, who did not return calls for this article, , told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was "not angry" about the suspected attack on his house, which was purchased by his father, former mayor Richard J. Daley, in the 1960s. But, he said, "You wonder how people can get so . . . how they can hate an individual."

Griffith said the loss of his house ruined his family's summer plans. "It's creepy that I lost my house. It's a devastating thing," he said.

Rice said the FBI is investigating the letters and has offered assistance in the arson investigation, though the bureau would become involved only if it appeared that someone crossed state lines to commit the crime.

Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit said arsons are extremely rare in the upscale lakefront vacation community. He declined to comment on possible links to the cougar shooting.

The cougar's stroll through Roscoe Village, a busy neighborhood on the city's North Side, sparked fear and fascination among locals, who called in sightings for several hours before police cornered the cat in an alley in the late afternoon and shot it. DNA testing later indicated that the 122-pound young male had apparently traveled from South Dakota's Black Hills in search of new territory.

Many residents were outraged by the cougar's death, saying police should have tranquilized and captured the animal. But major animal welfare organizations supported the decision as a necessary public safety measure.

No one has claimed responsibility for the fire or the notes. Rice said there have been no other animal-related threats in the Chicago area in the past few years.

Doug Fendry, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife supervisor who investigated sightings of what appears to have been the same cougar as it passed through his state, was shocked at the news of the arson.

"It's kind of scary," he said, noting that, in online forums, many Wisconsin residents expressed dismay at the animal's killing. However, "I don't think they really had a choice. Tranquilizing it would probably not have worked in that situation."

Though Wisconsin officials have not killed a cougar, Fendry said, residents are often upset by the killing of wolves that are considered threats.

Wildlife officials around the Midwest say urban cougar encounters may become more common as young males strike out for new territory.

In California, where human contacts with cougars are more frequent, the public has mixed feelings about how to respond. In 1994, a cougar was slain after it killed a woman jogging in the Sierra Nevada. The cougar's cub was later found and brought to a zoo. For a while, donations for the cub's upkeep significantly outpaced contributions to a fund for the woman's two children.

"It's amazing how people get so attached to these critters," Fendry said.