seasonings...
Posted on 07/21/2003 2:58:34 PM PDT by RoughDobermann
Man Holds Bike Over Head To Discourage Lion From Attacking
GOLDEN, Colo. -- Mike McCormick has shooed black bears away from his property and backpacked in Alaskan grizzly country. But he never feared wildlife until he came face to face with a mountain lion over the weekend.
The 41-year-old Louisville resident said the 15-minute encounter could have turned out much worse had he not hoisted his mountain bike over his head to make himself look larger. He also threw his water bottle at the lion, gained higher ground and started yelling at the animal.
McCormick, a software company sales director, was on a trail At White Ranch Open Space Park near Golden on Saturday evening when he saw a deer sprint off.
"The mountain lion popped its head out of the tall grass on the side of the trail -- he was really big, bigger than me -- and came up on the trail and stood there and stared at me," McCormick said. "He crouched down and started taking steps toward me, and that's when I had this realization he was coming after me. There was no confusion about it. It was really terrifying."
McCormick said he lifted his bike over his head and began yelling for help.
The mountain lion was still staring at him from 30 yards away. He threw his water bottle, hitting the cat in the shoulder, and scrambled uphill to try to gain an advantage.
As the animal continued to approach, McCormick said he changed his tone and started screaming things like, 'You want a piece of this?' "
The cat eventually headed down the trail.
McCormick's confrontation came the same day that wildlife officers trapped and killed a black bear that chased several hikers in a Boulder mountain park.
Wildlife officials said the bear wasn't attacking people, but it was aggressively approaching them for food and likely would have hurt someone soon.
Phil Aragon, wildlife technician for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said reports of wild animals are up since a black bear attacked two campers July 13 in Rocky Mountain National Park, the first bear attack at the park in 32 years.
The bear remained at large. The park reopened some backcountry sites in the Odessa Gorge area Monday, but several others remained closed.
Idiot.
Why? Seems to me he handled the situation pretty well.
I think it's pretty obvious that his comments were what chased the animal away, who wants to deal with some guy who keeps asking nagging questions?
I thought so too. I guess some people just have to b*tch.
seasonings...
I have a difficult time believing the mountain lion would have attacked him..unless he was about two foot tall.
What we see........
What Mountain Lions see
Emboldened by his first victory over the lion, Mike does his first cage match.
If you see a Big Cat nearby: - stare them in the eyes and don't look away. - shout, it can confuse them and break their concentration. - do not bend, crouch or crawl, cats like small targets. -do not run, it's a kind of attack trigger, and they can run much faster than humans.. - if there is warning growl from a mountain lion, shout and generally look as big as possible with your arms raised high. Throw sticks and rocks and shout abuse. They hate that.
HELL yeah!
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