Mountain Lion Danger

[elhombre]

"Everyone involved will  recover and be fine; they will also have quite a story to tell for the rest of their lives.  Do they not realize the gift they have been handed?"

This has got to the most incredible comment I have read in a while.  Absolutely incredible.....

[Flash]

Even made CNN, complete with a pic of the bloody knife:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2012/02/07/dnt-mountain-lion-attack.kosa

By the looks of that knife, the lion may now be dead. Did they get a tracking dog?

[MilesOfTexas]

Even made CNN, complete with a pic of the bloody knife:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2012/02/07/dnt-mountain-lion-attack.kosa

By the looks of that knife, the lion may now be dead. Did they get a tracking dog?

I may be remembering wrong, but I seem to recall hearing they had tracking dogs involved.

[Ay Chihuahua!]

Harris and her husband, Jason Hobbs, had heard about a mountain lion that tried to attack a family on a park trail earlier in the day before it was scared off when a backpack was thrown at it. The parents then decided to have the boys sleep indoors with mom rather than camp outside with dad, and throughout the day, they made sure to keep the boys close by, Harris said.

"This attack did not happen on a trail. We were not hiking," Harris said. "We were on a paved walkway in between a restaurant and a hotel, and this cat grabbed my child from me."

The lion dragged Rivers Hobbs into a bush next to the walkway, Harris said. Jason Hobbs jumped on top of the lion and was hitting it while Harris gripped its hind legs; Hobbs eventually stabbed the lion's chest with his pocketknife, Harris said.

The lion dropped the boy and ran away, Harris said.

"All the precautions people are told to take, we did everything — and it didn't matter," Harris said. "It didn't slow this cat down one bit."

From the Austin American Statesman:  http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/mountain-lion-snatches-leander-boy-in-big-bend-2157840.html

It sounds like the boy's parents did everything right.

[Casa Grande]

I believe this is the first incident of its kind in the park.  At least in the last several decades.  (the fact that it happened in such a human populated place)

[Jim]

Strange, but about 20 years ago I was in BB with my family (including my 2 boys around 8 and 10 years old), and we saw a young mountain lion in exactly the same spot.  It was resting beneath the edge of some brush about 15 feet off the sidewalk just down slope from the lodge patio.   This recent event was deja vu for me.

[RichardM]

After eating at the main lodge they walked to their room, when the cat literally pulled her son from her hands.

"This cat ran in front of me, had to cross in front of me and grab my son and dragged me and my son away from where we were walking. I still had him by the hand for a good while and then the animal gave a huge jerk and pulled him to the ground and took him by the face,” said Harris.

...
Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/video/Leander-Boy-Attacked-By-Mountain-Lion20120207-ktbcw-#ixzz1lqN6j5lr

[championbaum]

I think I will buy a decent pocket knife soon. But honestly, how much of a bad ass would you feel like after you saved your kid from a mountain lion via hand to claw/ fang combat? Glad the youngster is ok, hopefully it doesn't dissuade him from outdoor adventures when he gets older.

[Quatro]

I wonder:

1) how long it will take for all the new warning signs to be posted as are already posted at the Pine Canyon and Lost Mine trails, and

2) what changes there will be in the NPS approach to reports of cats near the Lodge area?  Not saying there should necessarily be any change, just that there will be some pressure for a more aggressive watch policy.  Spring Break will bring lots of small kids with nervous parents.

[grizd]

I was a volunteer for the park in  the Spring of 2010, working in the Chisos Basin VC. Mountain lion
sightings were common and often up close!  I have been to the park as a visitor about 40-50 times over the past
45 years and I only had three lion sightings until 2010, when I volunteered for the CBVC duty. Shortly after I arrived I had two sightings within 35 yards.
The three previously were from 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.  I remember back in the eighties, the rangers would use slingshots
in the Basin CG on deer as they were becoming pets to campers. Probably need to think about that for the lions as they are
not as wild as before.  Attacks have been rare and usually due to unhealthly animals.  I saw the video of the 6 yr old who was attacked.
He is a brave youngster!

[bjbriggs]

 A few years ago,We were setting in the Parking Lot of Chisos Basin waiting on our Room to be cleaned.  I decided to take a walk on the Window trail.  My wife said as I started on the trail from the Parking lot, a Large Mountain Lion crossed the trail right behind me.  I never did see it.

[raptor()]

I'm glad everyone was ok.  I think that lion must have been starving to have done this in such a public setting.

[GaryF]

Here are more details on the 2003 attack: http://www.angelfire.com/co/KlueLass/lions/kerzman.html   This one was fought off with a rock.

[Casa Grande]

Here are more details on the 2003 attack: http://www.angelfire.com/co/KlueLass/lions/kerzman.html   This one was fought off with a rock.

Yes, I remember that one quite well. I was there when that happened, though not a witness. 

[Juan Cuatro Lados]

One of the most rattled people I ever saw showed up
at the ranger station in the Basin one morning after he'd
spent the night in a tree with a lion yowling and hanging around
the base of the tree in Laguna Meadow or may have been one of the Boulder
Meadow campsites.  The young man did not want to be by himself
no way no how, even the next afternoon.  Back around '91 or '92 ....
Lion tracks are everywhere in the park, not just the Basin.  Went packing
toward the Punta last week
and saw lion tracks in maybe half the arroyos we walked.  When you get on an
expressway you take your chances, same in the desert ....