NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington 98501-1091
Internet Address: http://www.wa.gov/wdfw

November 3, 2003
Contact: Madonna Luers, 509-456-4073

Elk hunter fends off cougar attack

An elk hunter in the Blue Mountains of southeast Washington fended off an
attack by a cougar while starting to field dress a dead elk this week.

Kirk Zehner, 33, of Walla Walla was bending over the carcass of an elk shot
by a member of his hunting party, skinning knife in hand, when something hit
him from behind, knocking him on to the carcass and driving his head into
the ground. He instinctively struck at the attacker with his knife and heard
a squeal. He attempted to get up but the animal pushed down on him again as
it ran off. He saw only a grayish white blur leaving without another sound.

When Zehner's hunting partners arrived on the scene in off-road vehicles to
haul the elk out, they found him shaking and drawn but uninjured. About half
the length of his knife was covered in blood from his strike into the
attacking animal. The backside of his sweatshirt was torn and bloody. Zehner
helped field dress the elk with his knife, then cleaned it and his
sweatshirt with water.

The incident occurred October 27 at about 7:30 a.m. in a brushy, steep
ravine of the Lewis Peak area in northern Walla Walla County. Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officers were notified of the attack
October 29.

WDFW officer Mike Johnson of Walla Walla led an investigation of the
incident and is convinced it was a cougar that attacked Zehner, based on the
clothing tear marks and the strength and silence of the animal.

Although Johnson is not sure about the cat's motive, WDFW policy is to
attempt to track and kill any cougar that attacks a human. A local hunter
with cougar-tracking hounds was contacted, but scenting conditions were so
bad two days after the incident that no immediate attempt was made to locate
the animal. Zehner's stabbing of the animal could have fatally injured it,
however, so hounds may be used to attempt to locate a carcass in the area to
possibly learn more about the incident.

Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. In North America, fewer than 20
fatalities and 75 non-fatal attacks have been reported during the past 100
years. However, more cougar attacks have been reported in the western United
States and Canada over the past 20 years than in the previous 80. In
Washington, there have been nine recorded attacks by cougars on humans over
the past 80 years, (including one fatality in 1924), and five of those
attacks have occurred during the 1990's.

A good friend of mine works with the guy who was attacked. While butchering my deer in the field this mid October I kept looking around every once in a while to see if a bear or cougar was on the prowl. I shot my first cougar several miles from where this guy was attacked and have seen a total of 6 here in the Blues. Rufous.

Just this past Sunday, I was walking down a Catapillar track for half a mile or so. It started snowing, so I walked back to my truck.

I figure it was about 10 minutes after I turned around that I was looking at cougar tracks in the snow on top of my tracks where I had been walking earlier.

Even tho the article from Washington Fish & Game indicated that there had been fewer than 100 people killed in the last 100 yrs attacked by cougars, I have no interest in being the 101st.

Several seasons ago across the state line in No Calif, in Siskiyou County a hunter shot a cougar that had jumped to attack him, while he was stooping and visiting mother nature. ( Taking a dump for you city people).

And the liberals want to tell us it is all in our minds......

About two years ago while elk hunting I heard a shot around a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away and a few seconds later a coyote was going by headed in the direction of the kill. Think maybe he knew there would be something to eat.

He never made it there but I wonder if some predators aren't drawn to the shot after a certain amount of experience.