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Boy survives cougar attack with help from border collie

A 10-year-old boy escaped serious injury during a cougar attack, thanks largely to a border collie that sped to his rescue.

A 10-year-old boy escaped serious injury during a cougar attack Monday, thanks largely to a border collie that sped to his rescue.

The boy was one of four children hiking with two women on a trail outside a remote cabin near Marshall Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

According to a news release issued Wednesday by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, the boy had run ahead of the group when a cougar “suddenly dropped out of a tree and swiped at the boy, knocking him down.”

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The cougar scratched the boy’s back and chest before a border collie that accompanied the group jumped onto the cougar’s back. The cougar, or mountain lion, fled into the wilderness amid screaming and rock-throwing.

The COS stated that the boy, after receiving first aid from a nearby road worker, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation and the COS, as of Thursday morning, was still trying to track down the cougar.

The agency’s Facebook post about the incident generated nearly 400 comments, with the most popular comment reading, “That dog deserves a steak dinner! Glad to hear the boy escaped serious injury.”

–Generic cougar image courtesy of the USFWS; Marshall Lake image courtesy of the COS

Bison rips off woman’s pants in violent attack at Custer State Park

Videos show a tourist getting too close to a bison herd and then getting attacked, losing her pants in the encounter at Custer State Park.

A female passenger on a motorcycle got off and approached a herd of bison that were blocking the road at Custer State Park in South Dakota and wound up being violently attacked as she got too close while taking photos.

A bison charged the woman and caught her belt and jeans with its horn and tossed her around in a circle until the pants came off. The woman fell to the ground unconscious, and the bison ran off with the pants on its horn.

Fortunately, the 54-year-old Iowa woman escaped serious injury, according to the Custer County Chronicle.

A series of videos posted on Facebook by eyewitness Jo Reed tells the disturbing story. Be warned for strong language, and some might find the footage disturbing:

https://www.facebook.com/joanne.reed36sense/posts/10223769652499498

Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley told the Custer County Chronicle that the attack occurred around 6:39 p.m. Wednesday along Iron Mountain Road, adding that the victim was transported to an area hospital by Black Hills Life Flight.

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“According to eyewitnesses, the woman had gotten off the motorcycle on which she was a passenger and was attempting to approach a buffalo calf when another adult bison charged her, catching her belt and jeans on its horn and swung her around violently,” Mechaley told the Chronicle. “She was apparently saved when her pants came off and she fell to the ground unconscious.”

In the preceding videos, Reed can be heard saying, “This woman’s nuts, how close does she have to get?” and “Oh my God, it got her.”

“I’ve never actually filmed a near-death experience, and this was easily going to happen to the woman we saw in Custer State Park on Wednesday,” Reed wrote on Facebook.

“We came around a curve just behind a group of motorcyclists, and there was a herd standing in the middle of the road, most noticeably a cow (female) and her calf ,which was nursing. I popped out of the top of our Jeep to snap a few photos as we were at a stand still.

“Initially one woman got off her bike and approached the herd and then more followed. It was a tense moment, because John and I just knew they weren’t respecting these massive beautiful creatures’ space.”

Custer State Park warns tourists to stay at least a 100 yards from bison. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office had posted a warning only a week before the attack.

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Man mauled by grizzly bear may have had luck on his side

A Wyoming man who was mauled by a grizzly bear last Friday appears to have been saved by bear spray simply by having it in his possession.

A Wyoming man who was mauled by a grizzly bear last Friday appears to have been saved by bear spray simply by having the deterrent in his possession.

Spencer Smith was shed antler hunting in Sunlight Basin northwest of Cody when he was ambushed in dense timber.

Smith, who sustained serious neck wounds, walked 1.5 miles to his ATV and called for help. He was assisted by Warden Chris Queen of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and flown via helicopter to a regional hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

A WGFD investigation revealed that during the encounter the bear bit and ruptured Smith’s bear spray canister as it was still in its hip holster. This “presumably” caused the bear to end its assault, the agency stated this week in a news release.

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Smith was hiking alone and the bear appears to have attacked before he could respond.

“This appears to be a surprise encounter that occurred at close range,” said Dan Smith, a regional supervisor for the WGFD. “The bear was likely behaving in a defensive manner resulting from an unexpected, close encounter.”

Investigators found tracks of a lone adult male grizzly bear, and a daybed site in dense cover about 30 yards from where the attack occurred. But they could not identify the animal and the WGFD does not plan to trap or kill any bears in the area.

–Grizzly bear images are via Wikimedia Commons and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Yellowstone cross-country skier attacked by coyote

A 43-year-old woman was bitten by a coyote Tuesday while cross-country skiing in Yellowstone National Park.

The unidentified woman, who was skiing on Grand Loop Road near South Rim Drive when the mid-morning attack occurred, was treated for puncture wounds and lacerations to her head and arm.

She was subsequently transported to a nearby medical facility, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The road, in the Canyon Village area, was temporarily closed to skiers. The coyote was located and killed, and will be tested for rabies.

“Encounters like these are rare, but they can happen,” park biologist Doug Smith said. “We suspect this coyote may have been starving due to having porcupine quills in its lower jaw and inside its mouth. Its young age likely led to its poor condition and irregular behavior.”

Most roads within the park are closed to automobiles for the season, but some are open for skiing and other winter activities.

–Generic coyote images are courtesy of the National Park Service