Black bear saves hiker from Mountain Lion attack
Posted: Apr 04 2012 11:57 am
Ok, so this was news from Northern California a few days ago. The hiker claims that he was attacked by a mountain lion and a mother bear that he had been observing from about 40 feet away came over and pulled the lion off before walking away.
Today California Game and Fish officials said they believe his story is made up due to lab results on his backpack not showing any bear or mountain lion hair.
Original story here: http://www.paradisepost.com/ci_20269991 ... ed-by-bear
Fair-Use Excerpt:
Today California Game and Fish officials said they believe his story is made up due to lab results on his backpack not showing any bear or mountain lion hair.
Believable?"Mountain lions don't scratch," Department Communications Manager Kirsten Macintyre told The Huffington Post. "There's a very distinct pattern of injuries when a mountain lion attacks a person or a deer. They don't just run away -- even if a bear comes along."
Knowing this, a warden retrieved 69-year-old Biggs' backpack, which the cat had reportedly latched onto when it was trying to kill the man. Macintyre said that DNA testing turned up only a few results corroborating Biggs' story: a bit of Bigg's blood and a half-inch tear.
No saliva, no bear hair, no mountain lion hair.
"We do not believe there was a mountain lion," Macintyre said.
Original story here: http://www.paradisepost.com/ci_20269991 ... ed-by-bear
Fair-Use Excerpt:
After watching the bear family for a few minutes he decided to leave them be and turned to walk back up the trail. As he turned, a mountain lion pounced on him grabbing hold of his backpack with all four paws.
"They usually grab hold of your head with all four paws, but my backpack was up above my head and (the mountain lion) grabbed it instead," Biggs said. "It must have been stalking the little bear, but it was on me in seconds."
He wrestled with the cat, striking it in the head with a rock pick. The cat screamed when it was hit with the pick, but didn't let go, Biggs said. Before he knew it, the mother bear came from behind and pounced on the cat, tearing its grip from the backpack.
The bear and the cat battled for about 15 seconds, Biggs said, until the cat finally ran away. The bear went on its way as well. Biggs ended up with bite marks, scratches and bruises to his arm, but was otherwise uninjured.
