My comments at the end:
Man Attacked by Mountain Lion, Saved by Bear
By Ashton Marra
By Ashton Marra | ABC News Blogs – 5 hrs ago
Man Attacked by Mountain Lion, Saved by Bear A northern California man who says he was attacked by a mountain lion while out on a hike 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."
Biggs returned home to his shocked wife, Suzanne, who said she tried to convince him to go to the doctor, but has still had no luck.
"I was pretty worried when I saw all of the blood on his clothes, but he's being very stubborn," Suzanne Biggs said. "I thought he should go in case
of rabies, but Bob isn't worried."
Biggs has returned to the site of the attack four times this week. The couple has never worried about encountering large animals in the area
before.
"I am going to think twice about going down there now," Suzanne Biggs said, "but I'm more cautious than Bob."
Biggs said he has no problem returning to the area, and is recovering.
"I poured some hydrogen peroxide on my arm, and it feels fine," Biggs said. "It's black and blue from the wrist to the elbow and you can still see the
puncture wounds, but it feels fine."
EarthEvolves: I was not sure where to put this thread. The science section is a little too technical for this story. In a sense, there is an oddness
to this claim similar to those reported in crypto-zoology threads. I think that this story is possible, but the question arises as to what would
motivate the bear to save this man as opposed to simply taking advantage of the situation and fleeing with her cubs? If she saved this man's life
simply for the purpose of saving this man's life, then we have an interesting situation of a bear feeling commonality with a human.
What would motivate the Mountain Lion to attack? Did the Mountain Lion believe the man was a threat to bear cubs? The idea that a Mountain Lion
would go after a bear's cubs in the presence of Momma Bear is a bit too much for me. The feeling I get if this story is true is that we have a
strange inter-species sense of solidarity that traditional "survival of the fittest" notions of ecology have to acknowledge.
It is also possible we are getting a good yarn from an old story-teller of the type that has entertained humanity from the paleolithic times. If so,
then I admire him as a good story teller!
edit on 30-3-2012 by EarthEvolves because: Cleaned it up a bit