Deaths are highlighted in red text.
1991 (4 Reports found including 2 deaths)
Date not given. At a Nevada test site, north of Las Vegas, Mary Saether was attacked by a 120-pound female mountain lion. She suffered minor cuts and received 21 stitches on her head, right arm, and back. The cougar crept up on Saether and two male companions and attacked before they were aware of its presence. The two men beat the lion with their cameras forcing it to release Saether. A Wildlife Services Specialist arrived the next day. As he was doing a preliminary check, he heard noise in a tree and turned to find the lion charging. The man had only enough time to draw his handgun and shoot the lion at point blank range. The lion was found to be in good health. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, Reno, Nevada) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director)
14 January. 18-year-old Scott Lancaster was killed while jogging at his high school track in Idaho Springs, Colorado. The youth was attacked by a mountain lion and drug 200 yards uphill before being killed. The 130 pound boy clutched at vegetation and uprooted brush as the lion drug him to the killing ground. Though just a few hundred yards from high school, any of Scott's screams for help went unheard. The lion was found three days later still feeding on the boy. Lancaster was buried following a closed casket ceremony. This was the first death ever in Colorado from a lion attack. Source: (Mountain Lions and California State Parks; 01/19/94) (Denver Post; 05/01/98, B-01) (SWCOA)
10 March. 3-year-old
killed in La Quinta, California.
See this report most probably due to a cougar
HERE
03 July
Approximately 5 years earlier, Larrane had faced a cougar at her door that frightened her husky puppy. In 1996 her foster daughter was attacked at Lytton, B.C., (see below) by a cougar and received stitches for a severe scalp wound. Sources: (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 07/16/91) (Jason Proctor, Lora Grindlay, Charlie Anderson; The British Columbia Newspaper Foundation; 10/01/97)
1992 (4 Reports found including 1 death in British Columbia)
12 March. In Gaviota State Park, near Santa Barbara, California – Darron Arroyo, age 9, was attacked by a mountain lion as he walked along a park trail. Darron was hiking with his two brothers when a lion rushed from the bushes and attacked, attempting to drag him off in the brush. Steven Arroyo, Darron's father, was walking about a hundred yards behind the boys. He heard the screams and saw the lion dragging Darron. Steven rushed toward the cat, picked up a rock, threw it and struck the lion between the eyes. The lion dropped the boy and left the area. Darron sustained bites to the face and head and scratches to the chest. The parents of the mauled child brought suit against the State of California. Sources: (Information compiled from Santa Barbara News Press, Gaviota State Park and California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California.) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director) (Mountain Lions and California State Parks; 01/19/94) (1995 Outdoor California) (San Diego Union-Tribune; Associated Press; 04/15/95; A-3)
May. Jeremy Williams, 7, of Kyuquot, British Columbia, was mauled to death by a yearling female cougar as he played on the edge of the school yard. Jeremy, a Kyuquot Indian boy, was attacked as he sat on the grass in the elementary school playground. The cougar rushed and attacked the freckled, red-haired youngster. The boy's father and a dozen youngsters witnessed the attack. Kevin Williams, Jeremy's father and a teacher at the school, hurried to the scene and watched helplessly while children screamed in panic. The school's janitor shot and killed the 60-pound lion. Richard Leo, a Kyuquot Indian chief, said angry parents accused the school board of ignoring the danger of wild animals. (Associated Press, 1992) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director) (Mountain Lions and California State Parks; 01/19/94) (British Columbia Newspaper Awards)
June? Near Wenatchee, Washington, 5-year old Jessica Vanney suffered cuts and puncture wounds when a 60-pound mountain lion attacked her as she walked along a path through trees at a 100-site campground in Lake Wenatchee State Park. Her father, Michael Vanney, witnessed the attack. "Jessica was 4 or 5 feet in front of me. She walked between two trees and I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Then I saw the cougar run around a tree and jump on her. Its front paws just wrapped right around her head and shoulders." Vanney grabbed his hunting knife and attacked the animal. This is the third known lion attack in the state. (Associated Press, June 18, 1992) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director)
12 August. Nathaniel Moore, 12, of Cornville, Arizona, was attacked by a 98-pound male lion in Glacier National Park, Montana. He heard something come through the bush, and it attacked. Nathaniel was knocked down as he struggled with the lion. His father ran to his aid and kicked the mountain lion away. He was taken by helicopter to the hospital where he underwent several hours of surgery. He suffered facial, chest, arms, back and leg cuts and broken bones in his jaw and sinus cavity. Rangers tracked and shot the cat. Just 2 years earlier, Scott O'Hare (see above) was similarly attacked in Glacier National Park. Source: (Rocky Mountain News; Associated Press; 08/19/92)
1993 (3 Reports found)
August. A 6-year-old boy was attacked in Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara County, California. Source: (Mountain Lions and California State Parks; 01/19/94) (San Diego Union-Tribune; Associated Press; 04/15/95; A-3)
September. Horseback riders chased in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park,
California. See this non-injury report
HERE
September
1994 (9 Reports found including 2 deaths)
January. Three bicyclists menaced at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California. See this non-injury report HERE
23 April. Placerville, California, resident and mother of two, Barbara Schoener, 40, a vocational rehabilitation counselor and a long-distance runner in excellent physical shape, was killed by an 80-pound female mountain lion in Northern California on the American River Canyon trail in the Auburn State Recreation Area. Since no one observed the attack, there are conflicting hypotheses about what occurred. Barbara's husband Pete Schoener says that the lion was probably hidden on a ledge above the trail and pounced on her as she passed underneath. The lion knocked her down a slope, and she was badly wounded but she fought the animal with her arms before she was killed. Then the lion dragged her farther before eating most of her body. The accounts in the paper said investigators theorize that the lion surprised her by sneaking within 20' behind her on the tight trail and then ambushed Schoener, knocking her 30' down an 80° slope. Indications are she already was badly wounded but briefly fought the animal there before the lion finished the kill.
The trail is part of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run trail. Barbara was the first person in California in the 20th Century to die from a mountain lion attack. Barbara Schoener was 5' 11" and 140-150 pounds. (The papers incorrectly gave 5' 8" and 120 pounds.)
(San Diego Union-Tribune; 05/08/94, A-3; 05/13/94, A-3;) (Pete Schoener, via an email from Tom Chester's sister Connie Vavricek, who knew Barbara Schoener, as reported in Mountain Lion Attacks On People in the U.S. and Canada by Thomas Jay Chester)
9 May. A couple and small boy approached at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California. See this non-injury report HERE
May. 7-year-old Kyle Musselman was attacked by a cougar while on his way to school just 50 yards downhill from his home in a new subdivision of Gold River, British Columbia. His father was called to his aid by his brother. John Musselman thought the boy was dead, but charged the cat anyway. It dropped him facedown and ran. Source: (Dean Miller and Jo Deurbrouck, authors of Cat Attacks)
17 July. A mountain lion injured a 2-year-old boy at Apache Lake in Arizona's Tonto National Forest on Sunday morning. Joey Day and Suzi Humphreys of Tucson were camping in an open beach area when they were awakened by their son, Jesse's, cries. The lion had been pawing at the sleeping boy and then began to drag him away as he slept on a mat. His parents wrestled their son away from the lion, grabbed him, and hid on their boat until the lion left. Jesse needed 10 stitches to close a wound on his ear. Source: (Bob Wilson; The High Country News; 08/24/94) (The Arizona Republic Archives; Lion Attack, 07/20/94)
16 August. 50-year-old Troy Winslow and his wife Robin, along with 48-year-old Kathleen Strehl, were camping in the yard of a rustic cabin near the isolated hamlet of Dos Rios in Mendocino County, California, when a fight broke out between their dog and a 2-year-old, 60-pound rabid female mountain lion at 4:30 a.m. The lion retreated under the cabin after they threw rocks at it. Near daybreak, the cougar attacked Kathleen, giving her four puncture wounds in the arm and knocking her to the ground. The others jumped on the cat and Robin stabbed it with a 12-inch kitchen bread knife. The cat bit off Winslow's thumb during the melee when the man grabbed the animal near its mouth. Source: (San Diego Union-Tribune; 08/17/94, A-3;) (1995 DFG Outdoor California)
October. Hunter confronted by 2 lions near Detroit Lake, Oregon. See this hunter report HERE
10 December. Iris M. Kenna, a 5-foot-4 and no more than 115 pounds, 56-year-old woman in excellent physical condition, was killed near Cuyamaca Peak at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California, while hiking to Cuyamaca Peak alone in the early morning. She was attacked near the bench dedicated to her at the intersection of the Lookout Fire Road and Azalea Springs Fire Road / Fern Flat Fire Road. Source: (San Diego Union-Tribune; 12/11/94, A-1)
13 December. A 25-year-old water quality specialist, Susan Groves, was attacked and mauled by a cougar on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation (near Cortez, Colorado). She was taking water samples from a river at about 1:30 p.m. when she heard something moving on the bank above. It was awhile before she looked up and saw a lion. When they made eye contact, it came down the embankment toward her. Groves stayed in the water thinking the cat was just curious and would leave. When it didn't, she started screaming and throwing ice chunks at it while backing away. When she stumbled and went down in the icy water, the lion sunk its teeth into her head and held her under water. The 5' 9", 155 pound woman couldn't recall how, but she next remembered being on the bank on top of the cat with her arm in it's mouth. She reached for forceps in her vest and began jabbing the lion in the eye with them. The lion struggled out from under her and fled.
Groves managed to climb back to her truck and drive for help. Her injuries included five puncture wounds in her head and cuts and scratches on her arms and legs. Federal Animal Damage Control officers used dogs and quickly tracked and killed the lion, which appeared to be an old female, weighing only 60 pounds - about half the weight for a healthy adult female. It's teeth were worn, so it may have been unable to catch enough food. Source: (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 12/15/94)
1995 (3 Reports found)
January. A cougar charges 17-year-old girl in her driveway near Julian, California. See this non-injury report HERE
20 March. Scott Fike, a 27-year-old cyclist, was bitten and cut by a cougar near Mount Lowe in the Angeles National Forest, California, on 20 March 1995, and fought the cougar off with rocks. The cougar was then tracked down and killed. Source: (San Diego Union-Tribune); 03/25/95, A-3)
September. Man repeatedly attacked on popular Park trail in Colorado. See this non-injury report HERE
1996 (6 Reports found including a death in British Columbia)
16 January. Woman on horseback has snarl-off with lion at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California. See this non-injury report HERE
24 May. 28-year-old Phil Anderson was attacked by an approximately 80 pound mountain lion in Olympic National Park about 20 miles west of Port Angeles, Washington. The lion moved out of the shadows "smoothly and quickly". A mountain biker and wrestler, Anderson first ran backwards but fought when it leapt on his chest. Anderson fell to his back, locked his legs around the cougar, flipped over and buried his thumbs in the animal's throat and choked the cat in and out of consciousness. He kept the front paws pinned back with his forearms. After about two and a half or three minutes, the cat still wriggling, got Anderson's thumb in its mouth and smashed it. That gave the cat the edge. Anderson lost his grip, and the cat's claws went into a whirl and managed to rip through his thick sweatshirt in a couple of places, giving Anderson puncture wounds to the chest. Not wanting more, the lion then fled. Park Rangers declined to hunt down the lion, stating that having so many lions in that area would make it difficult to know which one it was. Source: (Read his account HERE by Mike Dawson, Peninsula Daily News; Sunday, 05/26/96)
[Dates Not Given. Two hikers (probably including the report below and possibly erroneously repeating Moses Street's encounter in 1995 HERE) were attacked by cougars in Colorado in 1996. Source: (Kevin Mccullen; Rocky Mountain News; 07/19/97]
June. A man running in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado was
attacked by a mountain lion. Injuries not noted.
Source:
(Statistics on mountain lion attacks in Colorado)
07 July
08 July. 8-year-old Lance Beingessner was
hospitalized as a result of a cougar attack near Nakusp, British Columbia.
The boy was dragged off a trail near Upper Arrow Lake.
Source: (Don Zaidle;
Outdoor Life Online;
Killer Cougars; February 2001)
(Animal People Online - News, 03/97)
19 August
Cindy died from her injuries. Her son Steven survived the near scalping inflicted by the cougar and made a full recovery after receiving 70 stitches in his head. Surprisingly, this male mountain lion weighed only 65 pounds. Source: (Mountain Lion Alert by Steve Torres) (Animal Attack Files) (Don Zaidle; Outdoor Life Online; Killer Cougars; February 2001)
1997 (7 Reports found including the death of a 10-year-old boy + 1 Animal-only Report)
20 May. About 11 p.m. a mountain lion attacked a 250 pound bartender at California Pines Lodge and Restaurant near Alturas in Modoc County, California, as he was taking out the trash. He heard something walking around the pool and went over to see what was going on. When he walked around the pool, he saw what he thought was a large dog about 40 yards away. He called out to the animal, and it turned. Then he realized it was a lion and moved to get away. When he turned back around to see what the animal was doing, it had followed and then stopped about 12 feet from him.
It seemed like it stood there for about 10 seconds, but it was probably only one or two, Shadursky said. Then, all of a sudden, it came at me. I punched it, and it knocked me down. I figured once I was down it was going to jump me, but when I looked up it was heading off toward the lake.Shadursky said he got up, shaking, and ran to his pickup. As he headed to town, he had to stop after about a mile because his heart was beating so fast. Reluctant to make a report, he decided to do so anyway, so that others would be warned of a lion in the area. He had a cut to his hand where he'd struck the lion and scratches he probably received when he fell. Source: (Modoc County Record; 05/22/97)
14 July. A 4-year-old boy was attacked
by a lion at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, at about 10:45 a.m.
The lion grabbed Raphael Degrave of Bougival, France, by his face and shook
and dragged him for several yards. The youngster was hospitalized with
cuts to his nose, left ear, and shoulder and required 52 stitches.
The lion had previously been seen approaching people, and was killed. The
family of Raphael filed suit against the National Park Service three years
later, charging that park officials failed to protect them from the "known
risk" posed by the mountain lion. Source:
(Wildlife Report;
from the Colorado Division of Wildlife; 10/22/97)
(Deborah Frazier;
Rocky Mountain News; 07/16/97)
(John C. Ensslin;
Rocky Mountain News; 06/28/2000)
17 July
04 September. Foal killed a few miles north of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California. See this animal fatality report HERE
20 October. Man uses mountain bike as defensive shield west of Boulder, Colorado. See this non-injury report HERE
Early November. At about 11:00 a.m., Sweet Water Ranch employee,
64-year-old cattleman Don Massey was attacked by a starving mountain lion
as he was gathering cattle in the Book Cliffs, a remote area about 70 miles
south of Vernal, Utah. It lunged at him and scratched his horse which
bucked and threw Massey to the ground. The lion chased the horse briefly then
returned to Massey, now armed with a branch, and his young Black Labrador dog,
Blackey. The lion chose to attack the dog, locking it's jaws around
Blackey's throat. Massey beat the cougar with his branch and knocked it
unconscious. Then Massey killed the cat with a rock. He was treated
for a bad scratch from the lion to his right thumb. Massey had thought
Blackey dead, but he was found at the ranch the next morning. It was
determined that the lion did not have rabies, but Wildlife Manager, Steve
Cranney, and Information and Education Officer for the Division of Wildlife,
Ron Stewart, stated the female cougar was less
than a year old, approximately 4 feet from head to tail, and so thin that her
bones were showing. A gash on it's leg may have diminished it's ability to
hunt normal prey in the area such as rabbits, squirrels, and deer.
Source: (Hans S. Moran;
The Deseret News;
Starving cougar attacks Vernal man;
B-03; 11/12/97)
(Salt Lake City Tribune; 08/10/98)
Special thanks to Jacob Hackford, Utah, for his
research regarding this incident.
28 December. Women and children charged at Caspers Regional Park, California. See this non-injury report HERE
1998 (9 Reports found)
He made himself look as big and menacing as possible. He shouted.
He waved his arms and jumped up and down. Instead of retreating as he expected,
instantly, the cat was directly in front of him, seeming to size him up
before attacking. It stared at him, its ears up and alert. So Peterson backed
up. The lion advanced. Peterson kept shouting. The cat bared its teeth,
squinted, and flared its nostrils. Then the ears flattened. The lion let
out a growl and lept, paws extended. It slammed
into his chest, causing them to tumble down the trail, ending up
side by side in a rolled up mass of fur, claws, and blood. His blood!
Peterson jumped up, and the lion missed him on a second leap. He careened down
the path this time, trying to fend off the cat with the shirt that had been
tied around his waist.
When the lion suddenly stopped, Peterson grasped his pack and swung it at
the lion,
missing it repeatedly as the lion easily dodged his swing. Once again he
started backpedaling down the trail with the cougar staying inches away,
evidently toying with him. When his escape path dropped down steeply through
a series of boulder steps, he hurtled down, skipping over the boulders.
The cougar launched into the air and tore into him just as he hit the ground.
For a second time they rolled together, down the trail. When they landed,
Peterson was on his knees, over the lion that was on its back. His head was
in the lion's mouth, a large tooth an inch in front of his left eye.
The lion's teeth were sunk into the top of his skull. Its jaws loosened
slightly, then bit down a second time, searching for a firmer hold. Blood
cascaded down over his face.
With his knife still in hand, he slashed at different angles, aiming at
the lion's throat, but because of the lion's thick fur and skin, he
failed to draw blood. Raising the knife high over the animal's head,
he plunged it into the back of its neck. Once. Twice. Nothing, not even a
whimper as the lion clawed his face. With an effort he was able to see
that the knife's blade had closed on his index finger, cutting halfway
through. Reaching over the cat's head with his other arm, he managed to pry
the knife open, just as he also realized that his right hand was
touching the cougar's right eye. With all the desperate force
he could muster, he plunged his thumb into its eye, simultaneously
sinking the knife into the cat's skull with his left hand.
The lion shrieked, releasing its hold on his head and pulling it's claws
from his neck. The lion jumped backwards.
Peterson hurled a rock the size of a volley ball at the lion's side.
Then, backing down the trail, out of sight from the lion, he turned and ran.
Peterson was losing blood
fast and was still almost three miles from the trailhead. Halfway down, where
the trail went through a thick stand of ponderosa pine trees, in full stride,
he glanced over his shoulder and believed he saw the lion eyeing him from a
distant tree! Feeling futile and panicked, he managed to call on his legs to
drive him even faster, and again he glanced over his shoulder. This time he
saw a "divine vision" instead of the lion, and felt saved. He continued
racing down the trail where he encountered a group of hikers. After 30
minutes with a mountain lion and 2½ miles at a dead run, his body shut down.
When he heard the thunder of an approaching rescue chopper
he knew his nightmare was over.
Jim Jones, an area wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife,
was quoted in the newspaper as saying that the lion probably wasn't driven
away by the hiker's action, but instead "just lost interest", since lions are
used to receiving wounds from their prey. Later he was quoted in a magazine
as saying that mountain lions have been known to retreat from prey that
fight back.
The lion was baited and hunted but was never found. The residents in the very
nearby and "upscale" Roxborough Park suburb outspokenly rooted for the lion, as
they didn't want even an attacking lion shot. About 9 months later in
Lakewood, Colorado, (an established Denver suburb) about 15 miles away from
where Peterson was attacked, artist Joe Beckner spotted a mountain lion in the
ponderosa pine beside his barbecue grill. He called 911 only after he
carefully studied the lion since he wanted to capture it in a watercolor
later. It was missing it's right eye. The police tranquilized and moved it.
Hospitalized in fair and stable condition, Peterson received several dozen
stitches to his face, neck, upper chest, both shoulders, and right leg. He
set a record at Swedish Hospital in Englewood, Colorado by requiring 70
staples to close his head wounds. The encounter with the mountain lion has
divided Peterson's life into pre- and post-attack. He used to be an avid
solo hiker; now, he rarely hikes, and never alone. Even when walking to his
car at night from a shopping mall or supermarket, Peterson looks over his
shoulder. He has nightmares. But because of his "vision" while losing blood
and running toward safety, Peterson also perceives a divine purpose behind
his attack. Not formerly a practicing Christian, he was babtized 2.5 months
after the attack. The near-death experience prompted him to reconcile with
his father and led him to change careers. Peterson had been studying for a
degree in park management; now he is an inspirational speaker - bringing the
story of his attack and his vision to churches and youth groups. On May 11,
1999, he appeared on Oprah. Sources:
(Denver Post;
05/01/98, B-01; 05/06/98, B-03)
(Andy Peterson's Own Online Account; 1998)
(The Boston Globe Magazine;
Wild in the suburbs;
By David Baron; 08/22/1999) (New Man Magazine Online;
Attacked!;
by By Rhonda Sholar; date unknown)
(Douglas County News-Press;
Man survives attack by mountain lion;
By Mike Colias; 05/06/1998)
25 May. Armed only with a pocket knife,
Mary Jane Coder, 41, fought off a mountain lion that tried repeatedly to
attack her three daughters, ages 6, 8, and 9, in Big Bend National Park
in west Texas. The lion kept trying to "herd out" one of her daughters
at a time, but Coder charged at the lion to protect her children, yelled,
and waved her knife. The lion wounded her hand, but the family managed
to retreat to their car 2 miles down the trail. Source:
(Nando News; Reuters News Service; 06/08/98)
31 July. Dante Swallow, a 6-year-old boy,
was jumped by a cougar while hiking with about three dozen other campers
on Marshall Mountain near Missoula, Montana. The cat pinned him with
its paws and bit into his neck, but he was pulled from its jaws by the
efforts 16-year-old counselor, Aaron Hall, who probably saved the
youngster's life, officials said. The boy survived with scratches
and puncture wounds. The cat slunk away and was later tracked down and
killed. Source:
(San Diego Union-Tribune;
08/16/98)
01 August. A 6-year-old Basin, Montana
boy, Joey Wing, survived a lion attack with 200 stitches. The lion attacked
the boy as he played with five other children near the Swift Dam Campground
west of Depuyer according to Pondera County Sheriff Leon Simpson.
August. Woman defends herself and a friend with with pepper spray in
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, California. See this non-injury report
HERE
04 August Carmen received
a fractured skull and brain damage. Source:
(John Craig;
The Spokesman-Review;
08/25/99; 08/06/98)
22 September. A Forest Service worker was stalked about 15 miles
from where Carmen Schrock (above) was mauled. See this non-injury report
HERE
08 October. Horseback riding club menaced in Cuyamaca Rancho
State Park, California. See this non-injury report
HERE
09 October. Riding club campers again menaced in Cuyamaca Rancho
State Park. See this non-injury/pet report
HERE
1999
(6 Reports found possibly including death
of a 3-year-old)
05 February. Man confronted by lion that killed his dog in Ketchum, Idaho.
See this pet report
HERE
24 August. 4-year-old Jacob Walsh of Kettle
Falls became the second Eastern Washington child in as many years to be
dragged off by a cat that only let go after being chased off by a screaming
adult. He was seriously injured in the afternoon attack by cougar which
pounced on him at his grandparents' rural home and started to drag him
into the woods. His grandfather, Darrell Shute, has lived most of his life
at the home where Jacob was mauled. He commented:
11 September
The cat was tracked by a hunting outfitter with dogs and accompanied by Fish
and Game officers. The emaciated, approximately 18-month-old cat weighing
only 47 pounds was trapped about 10 minutes away. It was to be killed and
tested for rabies.
Source: (Greg Moore,
Idaho Mountain Express,
10/06/99)
(Discovery Online, Earth Alert - Big Cats,
09/15/99)
October. 54-year-old male runner chased in Boulder County, Colorado.
See this non-injury report HERE
Sources:
(Denver Post;
10/05/1999, A1; 10/06/1999, B6; 10/08/1999, B1; 10/10/1999, B5)
(Colorado Springs Gazette - Telegraph;
Colorado searchers fear the lost child may have fallen prey to mountain lion;
by Bill McKeown; 10/07/99) (The Coloradoan;
Punctures in toddler's clothing convince hikers: 'In my mind, I have no doubt at all that he was killed by a mountain lion.'; by Miles Blumhardt, Matthew Benson, and Sarah Langbein;
06/12/2003)
(The Rocky Mountain News;
Cats nearby on tot's hike Cougars spotted during '99 search;
by Joe Garner; 06/14/2003)
(The Rocky Mountain News;
A poignant Father's Day gift;
by Julie Poppen; 06/16/2003) (The Coloradoan;
Atadero case may prompt negligence inquiry 'Routine procedure,' sheriff's spokeswoman says;
by Matthew Benson; 06/17/2003)
2000
(8 Reports found)
01 January. Two cougars shot in Republic, Washington, after
eating pet cats. See this pet report
HERE
24 January. Clarence Hall, a hunter working for the Canadian
government to kill problem wildlife, was attacked by the cougar he was
about to hunt. The cougar had killed a dog at the home of Cecelia
and Barry Mack on the Nuxalk Indian Reserve in British Columbia the previous
night. While Clarence was waiting for the rest of his hunting party,
without his rifle, he was checking out tracks on the nearby Tatsquan Creek.
(He left his rifle in his car since he wasn't tracking and because he
was in town.) Clarence noticed the cougar under a tree only 40' away,
and tried to get back to his car. Due perhaps to his retreating action,
the cougar attacked him on his neck, which felt like "being struck with
a baseball bat." The cougar threw him to his back, bit again
and shook him. Clarence shouted for help, then placed his hand over
the cougar's lower jaw, with his thumb, forefinger and index finger behind
its bottom canine teeth, which released its grip on his neck.
He described:
04 April. Victoria Martinez, a 4-year-old girl, was attacked
and seriously injured by a mountain lion at Bartlett Lake in Arizona's
Tonto National Forest at about 7:30 p.m, 20 minutes after sunset. Her family
was setting up their camp not far from the water. Her parents were putting
the bedding in the tent, and Victoria and her brother were just outside
the flap of the tent swatting at bugs when the lion attacked her from behind.
The lion dragged her for about 15 yards in the dark. She got tangled
in a thorn bush, and her parents scared the lion off. The child's father
threw rocks at the lion, yelling and chasing the animal until it released
Victoria. The lion crushed the back of her skull, nicked her carotid artery
and put several deep puncture wounds in her torso. As of 07/21/2000, Victoria
was reported "doing very well considering all that she has been through".
After the lion was chased away, District Ranger, Delvin Lopez, said
about 15 minutes later the large, healthy, approximately 4-year-old male
lion, thought to be Victoria's attacker, ran through another campground
and tried to catch a dog. He was chased again. The lion returned to the
spot where he dropped his prey. The third time it returned, the lion was
killed. According to Fran Barbano at
Mountain Lions: Facts and Fallacies,
this cougar had been shot in the hindquarters
with a shotgun sometime prior to this attack. Barbano states that Randy
Babb, an Arizona Game and Fish Department Biologist and Information
and Education Project Manager in Mesa, noted that the wound was old. It
had healed and there was no fresh bruising or tissue damage, but
shotgun pellets (bird shot) were lodged under the skin. Source:
(e-mails from Victoria's Aunt, Stacey West, on 07/20/2000, 07/21/2000)
(The Arizona Republic;
05/01/2000; 05/04/2000.)
03 May. "A small cougar" swiped its claw across the leg of a
man near Siletz, Oregon. See this unconfirmed cougar report
HERE
01 September. Man shoots cougar that killed his dog near Sequim,
Washington. See this pet report
HERE
Read the word-for-word account
HERE.
10 September. Hunter shoots charging lion east of Eugene, Oregon.
See this hunter report
HERE
15 September. Dog wards off lion in tree from 6-year-old in
Malott, Washington. See this non-injury report
HERE
mid September. Hunter shoots charging cougar near Colorado Springs,
Colorado. See this hunter report
HERE
08 November. Hunter shoots menacing lion near Mehama, Oregon.
See this hunter report HERE
Permission freely granted to reference or even reproduce this page
as long as links remains intact
28 April. At 2:00 p.m. experienced hiker and a Lakewood State Park
ranger, Andy
Peterson, 24, from Littleton, Colorado, was attacked in Roxborough State Park,
Colorado, while hiking alone on the Carpenter Peak Trail 2 to 3 miles west of
the visitor center. Decending the trail, the 5' 6", 130 pound hiker came upon
a lion which may have been young, approximately 80 pounds, and female. It was
chewing on a stick.
At first he couldn't believe his luck. Then fear overtook his excitement.
Peterson's legs shook as he eased quietly backwards, up the trail. He reached
for the Swiss Army knife he always carried in his fanny pack and glanced at it.
He was doubtful it's two inch blade was much of a defense. In the
brief time he looked away from the lion to size up his knife, the lion had
begun slowly advancing, now with his eyes on Peterson's.
(Click photo above to enlarge)
... he saw this lion. He started backing
up and hollering, 'No! No!' He turned and started to run and it attacked
him. It bit him on the back of the skull and his back. He had pretty good
lacerations from his throat around his windpipe clear to his ear.
Source:
(Boy, 6, returns home from cougar attack;
Associated Press; Post Register;
08/04/98)
17 April. Eight-year-old Tayla Westgard was bitten on the face and abdomen
at a camp near Hope, 150 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
She was saved when Myra Baloun from her camping party beat off the animal
with a tree branch. Myra says despite being a young cougar, it wasn't intimidated
by her aggressive behavior. But Conservation officers say she acted in
the best way possible. The cougar was later caught and killed by conservation
officers. The little girl suffered severe facial lacerations, eye damage
and puncture wounds to the chest. Source:
(Animal Attack Files)
(Vancouver, Canada Guidebook)
(Chek TV News)
"We've lived in this country a long time. When I was smaller
than Jacob, I was running around these hills without anyone other than a dog
with me, and nobody was concerned."
Now, he said he and his wife, Karen, worry that their nine grandchildren
will no longer consider their home safe to visit. Source:
(John
Craig;
The Spokesman-Review;
08/25/99)
02 October. Evidence uncovered in June of 2003
positively indicates that 3-year-old Jaryd John Atadero was killed and carried
away by a mountain lion. From the initial 1999 investigations,
officials had theorized that Jaryd may have been attacked and dragged off
by a mountain lion. That horrific possibility emerged four days after his
disappearance with news that a dog team and trackers had discovered a
small footprint and other subtle signs of Jaryd Atadero that suddenly
vanished about 175 yards from where mountain lion tracks were found. Major
Bill Nelson of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and search commander
for the first four days after the boy disappeared stated that as the 1999
search progressed, there were multiple reports of cougar signs and sightings
in the area. At that time, the Larimer County Sheriff's Sergeant Justin Smith
said, "It's certainly consistent with why there have been no solid signs of
Jaryd." Until 3 years and 8 months after his disappearance, though, no trace
of him had been found in the area where he had been hiking about 1 1/2 miles
up the Big South Trail in Poudre Canyon, in Colorado. Hiding and trying
to scare them along the trail, he had become separated from his 6-year-old
sister, Josallyn Atadero, and 11 adults, themselves separated into 2 groups.
Tragically, two fishermen he encountered around noon on his adventures also
neglected to restrain the wandering 3-year-old when he asked them where he
could find bears.
June 4, 2003, Jaryd's clothing was found by 2 hikers,
Gary Watts and Robert Osborne, on a steep (45 degree) rock slope 436
feet above the Big South Trail where the boy was hiking when he disappeared
65 miles northwest of Fort Collins, Colorado. After an official search was
begun, his remains (a molar and the top of his scull) were found ten days later
about 150 feet from where his clothing was discovered. It was the day before
Fathers' Day, June 14, 2003, and the remains were found just about 10 minutes
after his father, Allyn Atadero, arrived at the search scene. Allyn was
allowed to cradle his son's tooth next to his heart before it was taken into
evidence. Osborne and Watts, respected outdoorsmen and businessmen from
Fort Collins, both are positive a mountain lion killed Jaryd. "In my mind I
have no doubt at all that he was killed by a mountain lion," said Rob Osborne.
"As soon as we looked at the fleece jacket and looked at the other clothing,
we could see puncture holes from teeth. It looked to me like he was carried,
not dragged, up the slope." Duggins Wroe,
a wildlife biologist from Wyoming, has examined Jaryd's clothing found at
the scene and concluded that damage to the shoulders and upper arms of
the pullover are consistent with that caused by a mountain lion grabbing
its prey.
Click either photo for more . . .
Immediately, I envisioned the cougar ripping my belly open with
its front claws. With my right hand, I pulled the cougar's head, neck and
shoulder over my chest, rendering the front claws useless as I pinned the
cougar's claws to my chest. I then instantly threw my left arm around the
cougar's neck and shoulder.
Barry Mack then shot the cougar four times from only a foot away.
When the cougar went limp, Clarence removed the cougar's teeth from his
skull. He received over 100 stitches, and nearly lost his right hand,
which fortunately has responded to therapy, leaving only some impairment.
Clarence Hall explains that the cougars in Bella Coola valley are starving,
making them more prone to attack, because wolves have moved in and are
depleting the deer population, the cougar's usual diet. Source:
(The Daily Courier;
04/03/2000)
Warning: If you are sensitive to
graphic details, this one page story "takes you there" and then some.
This page by Linda Lewis may contain updates and retain
some expanded attack accounts
for Mountain
Lion Attacks On People in the U.S. and Canada by Thomas Jay Chester
If you know of an attack not listed here, please email
me or Tom Chester.
which credit all sources and Tom Chester at http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html
As his was the rare and comprehensive research I found for multiple
lion attacks in North America
