Posted on 05/17/2012 4:11:46 PM PDT by SJackson
Wildlife experts frequently remind campers, hunters and hikers what to do should they encounter a mountain lion. Hitting the big cat with a frying pan is probably at the bottom of the list.
Nevertheless, a Chino Valley, Ariz., man grabbed his cast-iron pan — his closest weapon — to fend off a cougar after it attacked his dog earlier this month.
According to The (Prescott, Ariz.) Daily Courier, Brandon Arnold, 24, was camping with his girlfriend, Tessa Gerdes, and seven other friends — including three children — early in the morning on May 4 in the Tonto National Forest when a mountain lion attacked Arnold’s dog, Apollo, a 90-pound lab-pit bull mix.
Arnold’s friend, Donald Jones, grabbed the cougar by the neck thinking it was another camper’s dog, then (wisely) let go once he realized what he had grabbed. The puma high-tailed it into the woods, with Apollo giving chase, so Arnold and Jones gave chase with whatever weapons they could grab; Arnold grabbed a cast-iron frying pan, and Jones grabbed a table.
Arnold reached the animals first, and once he got a clear swing, he took it, smacking the cat in the head.
“The first time I had a clear shot I just swung the pan and hit him right on the head,” Arnold told The Daily Courier. “It was like a cartoon — he just kind of stopped and I hit him again. He got stiff and fell over.”
Arnold walloped the stunned cougar again, knocking it to the ground, then popped it several more times for good measure before another friend shot it a couple times — just to be sure.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department reported Monday that the cougar tested positive for rabies. Luckily, none of the campers were scratched or bitten. Apollo suffered a few wounds, but thankfully had his rabies shots and should be released after a 45-day quarantine.
I encountered one of those circa 1992 in the Gila Wilderness.
Nothing like a 7' long 200 lb. cat to get your attention.
I was hunting and was armed with a .30-.30, a single-action revolver in .45 Colt and a knife. However, they were all in a pack leaning against a tree about six steps away (I had stopped to eat an apple and a sandwich and was sitting on a rock under a tree on the West Branch of the Gila River).
The cat was about 4' overhead, lounging on a horizontal limb. I got to my feet slowly and backed up to my gear at about one step every 10 seconds, never taking my eyes off the cat. I retrieved my gear and walked backwards at port arms at almost the same pace about 1/4 mile.
Just lucky it wasn't interested in me. I've been almost shredded by a house cat before, but that thing outweighed me.
From that point on, the rifle was always within reach and the knife and revolver on a hip.
That encounter still gives me the willies.
I think Mrs. Joe would have killed it with one swing (ducking).
I think that's on one of the adult channels...
ACME!
A rabid cougar?
Yikes!
According to Al Sharpton, Trayvon Martin had skillets.
....and the other cougers are fearful now of cast-iron frying pans.
Liberal/EnviroNut speak: We need cast-iron frying pan control laws. LOL
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