Man Attacked by Mountain Lion, Saved by Bear

[red dog 1]

A northern California man who says he was attacked by a mountain lion has a helpful hand - or claw - to thank for his life.

Robert Biggs, 69, of Paradise, Calif. says he was saved by a helpful bear.
Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and gold-panning trips near Whiskey Flats when he came across a mother bear, yearling, and cub sitting on a stream bank.
Biggs said he stopped to watch the bears for a few moments, but, as he turned to leave, something jumped on his back and knocked him to his knees.

"My backpack raises up over my head and a mountain lion latched on to it," Biggs said.
Biggs hit the lion on the head with a rock pick he was carrying when he saw the bear grab the lion by the neck, Biggs said.
The two animals struggled on the ground for a few seconds before the lion got free and ran away, he added.

"I think the lion was stalking the bear's cub and I got in the way," Biggs said.
"The bear walked calmly back to her cub after, and I wrapped my arm up with a T-shirt and went gold panning before I went home."


Read more http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion

[dems_rightnow]

1. Hoax

Sorry.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Possibly. The story has been questioned but has been neither proved nor disproved.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/31/SPGO1NSU3S.DTL

[dems_rightnow]

5. Perhaps not proved..

... but proved that there was no hair or saliva from either animal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/robert-biggs-bear-mountain-lion-attack-hoax_n_1402801.html

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. I think ...

I would've had to change my pants before I could proceed to panning for gold.

[markpkessinger]

4. On the other hand . . .

. . . if the mountain lion had not been there, and had mother bear spotted this guy and deemed him to be a threat to her cubs, her ire might have been turned on him. So it's possible, actually, that the mountain lion saved the man from the bear. Just sayin'.

[Politicalboi]

6. He sounds kinda loony

Patty Cake with bear cubs? Really? You better run clear of bear cubs, or any cub of an animal that could kill you with one swipe. I think he maybe watched too many Tarzan movies, Daktari, or Wild Kingdom.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. I lived in Paradise for 6 months

OK, I actually lived in Magalia, the small town right next to Paradise...but wouldn't you use the line "I lived in Paradise" if you had been that close?

Paradise is one of those end-of-the road places. There is a road that goes north from Paradise, further into the mountains, but it doesn't come out anywhere, and it gets pretty rough pretty fast--take your 4-wheel drive. There are mountain lions and bears in the area. I have no idea if this gentleman's story is true or not, but if it is, it's easy to imagine the setting for the encounter. It's wild, it's beautiful. Oh, and it's also very economically depressed and very right wing. It reminds me of Utah or Idaho insofar as being possessed of lots of natural beauty, but filled with wingers-turned-'baggers.

[red dog 1]

8. After reading the Huffington Post & SF Chronicle articles, I admit it might well be a hoax

....but I'm still a little puzzled about a quote from the DFG official that "DNA testing [on the backpack] turned up only a few results corroborating Biggs' story: a bit of Biggs' blood and a half-inch tear"

What were the "few results" that DNA testing "turned up" corroborating Biggs' story"?

"A few results" means "more than one" result, doesn't it?

Although I'm leaning towards it being a hoax, I have to agree with The Velveteen Ocelot that "this story has been questioned but has been neither proved nor disproved."

[FSogol]

9. That's curious, there is no mention of how much 'corn-squeez'ns' that old prospector drank

before tangling with that hill cat.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. The guy spends most of his time near whiskey and the big bear called the little one Boo Boo

And the mountain lion was heard to exclaim "Heavens to Mergetroid! Exit... Stage Left!"

Here's what I think...

Snagglepuss was on the attack...


When Yogi and Boo Boo saved the day.