Posted on 09/10/2009 5:09:32 AM PDT by marktwain
A five-year-old Rossland boy has been hospitalized, treated and released after a cougar attack in Stevens Country, Wa., yesterday
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), issued a press release saying the child was attacked and injured while hiking with his family on the Abercrombie Mountain Trail, along Silver Creek in the Colville National Forest east of Northport.
“His parents, of Rossland, British Columbia, reported a cougar suddenly jumped out of a brushy area onto the boy, who was near his mother on the trail,” said the release. “The mother reportedly fought off the cougar and the parents took the child to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail.”
The family has asked to remain unnamed.
The press release went on to say that the child suffered head wounds, but is expected to fully recover.
It also indicated that wildlife officers must now hunt, and euthanize, the cougar. “After WDFW was notified of the incident by the boy’s father this morning, WDFW officers contacted local hunters with hounds trained to tree cougars, to assist in searching for the cougar. If the animal is found, it will be killed.”
“When human life is threatened in this way, we take no chances,” said WDFW regional enforcement Capt. Mike Whorton. “Cougars that have attacked people clearly pose a continuing public-safety risk and are euthanized if they are captured.”
The WDFW also promised there would soon be signs on the trailhead, “advising users that cougars and other potentially dangerous animals are in the area, and offering advice on how avoid or deal with an encounter.
“The last cougar attack in Washington was last year in Douglas County. Since records have been kept, there have been 18 reported cougar attacks in the state, including one fatality in 1924 in Okanogan County.
WDFW estimates the state’s cougar population at about 1,900-2,100 animals.
How can they tell which cougar attacked the boy?
“It also indicated that wildlife officers must now hunt, and euthanize, the cougar.”
But don’t let citizens carry firearms on those trails.
Oh, no. Mustn’t allow that.
If the mother had a .357 on her hip and she knew how to use it, they wouldn’t have to hunt the cougar because it would already be dead and her son would have suffered far fewer injuries.
I’ve hiked the Cascades a lot. When you pass a big black bear on the trail, you want to be able to do more than wave your arms and hope.
I seem to recall another article recently that suggested that the classic “stand your ground” strategy was more likely to provoke an attack from a cat.
Backing way or just taking off running seemed to be better ideas, according to the stats.
Almost as good as the one about the pepper spray and bears.
LOL
If you don't want to get hurt by a wild animal stay away from them. Problem solved.
Waterboarding.
Seriously, intelligent predators need to be hunted on a regular basis to make sure they understand humans are not a safe prey item. They also need to be exterminated in high density areas where the locals can’t carry weapons.
I carried my .357 while fishing in bear country this summer, but I doubt anyone would shoot at a couger while it’s in the midst of an attack on a 5 yr. old.
That’s a very tough call to make without being there and knowing whether there was a safe shot possible.
If nothing else, a shot into the ground to scare it off. And if you’re close enough to hit it, you’re pretty much at point-blank.
Go Google “Cougar attack.”
You tell me who usually wins those fights.
The mother and boy were very, very lucky.
I agree. I have a theory that there are some animals (crocodiles, cockroaches, democRATS) God put on this earth just to see if humans were smart enough to exterminate them!
I don’t need to google anything!
I am abundantly clear about how difficult it is for a 3rd party to make a safe shot in the midst of a violent struggle!
I believe I know how “I” would have handled it, but it is not realistice to expect a mother in an emotionally charged situation, to be able to shoot safe.
He was the one with mother bites all over his body.
Don’t worry son, someday the girls will find that a VERY sexy scar. :)
No, to get the joke apparently you really do.
Damn - not until post #13! A little slow today, fellas ...
Dad was 50 meters away.
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