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!

Stephen Colbert is going to love this.

#1 Threat to Mountain Lions

BEARS!!!

To me it sounds like the lion thought that the guy was going to get the cubs for himself. The bear didn't see him as a threat, but saw the lion as a threat so went for the lion.

He is a very lucky guy, but i believe that the bear was just protecting its cubs from the lion, and had no worry about the guy so let him walk away free unharmed.

Yeah, I've been hearing about this story for a few day.
IMO? The guy is going to end up eaten by a bear. How dumb are you to touch a bear cub?
The only reason the bear went after the Mt. Lion was because it was near the cubs.
They are wild animals. Just because you got lucky once, doesn't mean it will happen again.

perhaps i missed something where in the article does it say he touched a bear cub?

i did not see that in the above article can you please educate me.

Originally posted by chiefsmom
Yeah, I've been hearing about this story for a few day.
IMO? The guy is going to end up eaten by a bear. How dumb are you to touch a bear cub?
The only reason the bear went after the Mt. Lion was because it was near the cubs.
They are wild animals. Just because you got lucky once, doesn't mean it will happen again.

I agree with the above poster. He should just thank his lucky stars and not return. Next time it won't be a mountain lion thats behind him, it'll be a 1000 lb bear.

Originally posted by chiefsmom
Yeah, I've been hearing about this story for a few day.
IMO? The guy is going to end up eaten by a bear. How dumb are you to touch a bear cub?
The only reason the bear went after the Mt. Lion was because it was near the cubs.
They are wild animals. Just because you got lucky once, doesn't mean it will happen again.

He never touched the bear, he was just observing them from a distance.

Mountain lions have been known to attack humans, and if the guy was noticeably aged, the mountain lion may have picked up on that and thought he was a free meal. It could have even been old or hurt/sick and desperate for food. It's also possible the bear simply did want to help him. Animals have been known to do odd things. I remember seeing a documentary that talked about this bear that essentially became a serial killer of other bears. It would hunt them down, kill them, and then mutilate their bodies and scatter the remains. Nobody could figure out why, other than some kind of malicious desire to kill.

I'm sure it's not outside the realm of possibility that, not only did the bear recognize him from the previously cited interaction with the cubs, but that she wanted to save him. But...IMO it's more likely that she recognize the presence of another top predator and acted to protect her offspring. Saving him just happened to be part of the deal.

Sounds to me like the lion was lying in wait watching the bears, considering a bear cub for it's next meal, when this big stoopid person planked themselves down right in front of it.

The lion must've been thinking it was it's lucky day!

I definitely agree the momma bear would still think they lion as a threat even if it was busy trying to eat the man. So thats why she jumped in.

If the lion wasn't there the bear would have eaten him