AlmostFamous
Jan 9th, 2004, 06:16 PM
*While I certainly feel sorry for the people that have been attacked, I just dunno. I mean, I am not a tree-hugger, but these animals are just acting out of instinct. They are not the friendly house cat. They are wild animals that have been run out by developers building on the land where they live. They have no where to go, and along with that, the animals that they eat to survive are being destroyed too. I guess it is the Native American in me that makes me sympathetic to the animals as well.*
Courtesy of MSN:
LAKE FOREST, Calif. - A mountain lion attacked and severely injured a bicyclist in an Orange County park and may have killed a man whose body was found nearby, authorities said.
The 2-year-old male cat, which weighed about 110 pounds, was later shot and killed, and its body was taken to a laboratory for testing, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department.
Anne Hjelle had been riding with a friend in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park shortly before dusk Thursday when the mountain lion attacked her, said Orange County Fire Capt. Stephen Miller.
The lion pounced on the 30-year-old’s back, grabbed her by her head and began dragging her, said her friend, Debbie Nichols. Nichols said she screamed for help and grabbed Hjelle’s legs in a struggle to free her.
“He dragged us down ... about 100 yards into the brush and I just kept screaming,” Nichols said. “This guy would not let go. He had a hold of her face.”
Cyclist's condition improves
Other cyclists in the area threw rocks at the animal until it fled. Hjelle was airlifted to Mission Hospital, where her condition was upgraded to serious early Friday, a nursing supervisor said. She had been listed as critical.
After the attack, the body of Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, 35, of Foothill Ranch was found at the top of a trail near a bicycle. Authorities weren’t sure how long he had been there and couldn’t confirm if the man was killed by the mountain lion, but Miller said, “it’s pretty obvious that an animal was involved.” An autopsy was planned Friday.
Authorities said a second mountain lion in the area was hit by a car and killed late Thursday and would also be tested.
Previous attacks
Including Thursday’s incident, there have been 13 mountain lion attacks on humans in California over the past 114 years, said Doug Updike, a biologist with the state Fish and Game Department. In those cases, there were five fatalities, he said.
Last September, game wardens shot and wounded an aggressive mountain lion spotted near an equestrian center in San Juan Capistrano. The lion was later found and killed, state officials said.
In 1986, 5-year-old Laura Small was attacked while looking for tadpoles with her mother in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in Orange County.
The girl’s mother was able to rescue her daughter, whose skull was partially crushed by the mountain lion’s jaws. She was left blind in one eye and paralyzed on her right side.
Months later, a 6-year-old boy was mauled in the same park. County supervisors closed most of the park to children for nearly a decade. The ban was lifted in December 1997.
Three years later, a state law was passed prohibiting people from hunting or killing mountain lions.
The threat of mountain lions has become an increasing problem in Southern California as development encroaches upon rural areas that have been home to various animals.
Updike estimates there are between 4,000 and 6,000 adult lions roaming the Golden State, with usually five to seven mountain lions per 100 square miles. Still, he said the chances of being attacked are extremely rare.
Courtesy of MSN:
LAKE FOREST, Calif. - A mountain lion attacked and severely injured a bicyclist in an Orange County park and may have killed a man whose body was found nearby, authorities said.
The 2-year-old male cat, which weighed about 110 pounds, was later shot and killed, and its body was taken to a laboratory for testing, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department.
Anne Hjelle had been riding with a friend in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park shortly before dusk Thursday when the mountain lion attacked her, said Orange County Fire Capt. Stephen Miller.
The lion pounced on the 30-year-old’s back, grabbed her by her head and began dragging her, said her friend, Debbie Nichols. Nichols said she screamed for help and grabbed Hjelle’s legs in a struggle to free her.
“He dragged us down ... about 100 yards into the brush and I just kept screaming,” Nichols said. “This guy would not let go. He had a hold of her face.”
Cyclist's condition improves
Other cyclists in the area threw rocks at the animal until it fled. Hjelle was airlifted to Mission Hospital, where her condition was upgraded to serious early Friday, a nursing supervisor said. She had been listed as critical.
After the attack, the body of Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, 35, of Foothill Ranch was found at the top of a trail near a bicycle. Authorities weren’t sure how long he had been there and couldn’t confirm if the man was killed by the mountain lion, but Miller said, “it’s pretty obvious that an animal was involved.” An autopsy was planned Friday.
Authorities said a second mountain lion in the area was hit by a car and killed late Thursday and would also be tested.
Previous attacks
Including Thursday’s incident, there have been 13 mountain lion attacks on humans in California over the past 114 years, said Doug Updike, a biologist with the state Fish and Game Department. In those cases, there were five fatalities, he said.
Last September, game wardens shot and wounded an aggressive mountain lion spotted near an equestrian center in San Juan Capistrano. The lion was later found and killed, state officials said.
In 1986, 5-year-old Laura Small was attacked while looking for tadpoles with her mother in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in Orange County.
The girl’s mother was able to rescue her daughter, whose skull was partially crushed by the mountain lion’s jaws. She was left blind in one eye and paralyzed on her right side.
Months later, a 6-year-old boy was mauled in the same park. County supervisors closed most of the park to children for nearly a decade. The ban was lifted in December 1997.
Three years later, a state law was passed prohibiting people from hunting or killing mountain lions.
The threat of mountain lions has become an increasing problem in Southern California as development encroaches upon rural areas that have been home to various animals.
Updike estimates there are between 4,000 and 6,000 adult lions roaming the Golden State, with usually five to seven mountain lions per 100 square miles. Still, he said the chances of being attacked are extremely rare.