When Jan Hoffman-Rau came home from her morning walk Tuesday, the last thing she expected to see was an exotic cat in her backyard. Hoffman-Rau, 72, said she was almost home from her walk when she saw several police officers outside her neighbor's house looking for the wild cat. When she went inside her house and looked out at her backyard, she saw it sneaking under her deck. Hoffman-Rau, who lives in the 1600 block of Foltz Drive, said she immediately went back out and waved the officers over. Officers rushed in and got to work trapping the caracal, a medium-sized wild cat native to parts of Africa, India and Pakistan. Hoffman Estates Police work to trap a caracal, an exotic cat, outside a home in the 1600 block of Foltz Drive on Tuesday.Jan Hoffman-Rau "It took hours for them to get it," Hoffman-Rau said. "They had to take some boards off of my deck and even had to take an entire step off the staircase to get to it." Officers were able to trap the cat using a snare pole and shot it with a tranquilizer before putting it in a cage at about 7:30 a.m."When they put it in the cage it just went crazy," Hoffman-Rau said. "This cat — I didn’t realize how dangerous it was. Its teeth were so sharp." This morning Hoffman Estates PD captured the caracal that had been spotted roaming around the NW suburb. It’s currently at the police station, awaiting transport to the sanctuary. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/1QjrVf2Xku— Andrea Medina (@AndreaMedinaTV) October 15, 2024 Hoffman Estates police said the cat was first seen in the area near Della Drive and Huntington Boulevard but officers couldn't find the cat at the time.Hoffman-Rau said she first spotted the cat Friday stalking a squirrel in her backyard. She called Cook County Animal Control and they went out to set traps but weren't able to catch it. The cat will be turned over to the Valley of Kings Sanctuary in Sharon, Wisconsin, police said. The nonprofit houses more than 30 tigers, lions, bears, wolves, farm animals and others that need care and safety, according to its website.Police are investigating where the cat might have come from and how it ended up in Hoffman Estates. Anyone with information is asked to call the police department at (847) 781-2800. Related Exotic cat found safe after going missing from northwest Indiana