First posted in Canadian Hunting by mboga biga bwana

here's the full story:

Man describes choking cougar
'Hero' saves boy from attacking animal in B.C.'s Cariboo
Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 03, 2007

CLINTON, B.C. - A Kamloops man is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of a 12-year-old boy who was attacked by a cougar at a private summer property near Clinton on Wednesday night.
Colton Reeb was camping with Marc Patterson and his wife and daughter on the Patterson property. Colton was walking to the outhouse after dinner at 6:30 p.m. when a male cougar weighing about 30 kilograms jumped him from behind.

Patterson, who had been sitting on a picnic bench outside the cabin, said "suddenly we heard a deathly scream." He said his daughter Larah, 12, went to investigate.

"She said Dad, there's a cougar on him.' I just got up and ran all the way down there. There was a lot of blood absolutely all over the kid's head," Patterson said. "I didn't really think about it; it happened so fast."

Patterson said the cougar had Colton's head in his mouth and his paws around his neck "like a kitty cat would play with a ball."

Not knowing what else to do, Patterson ran toward the cat and kicked it five times in the head but it didn't flinch. He then knelt down and put his knee on its back and wrapped his hands around the cougar's neck, choking it with his bare hands.

"I squeezed as hard as I could and after five seconds or so, he let go," Patterson said. "We rolled one way and another way...he flung out of my hands and I was able to get up as we were spinning."
As he stood, the cougar stood about a metre from him, his ears flattened and his eyes huge, ready to attack again, Patterson said.

As Colton ran, Patterson lifted his arms and growled at the cougar "like a grizzly bear," giving his family and the injured boy a chance to reach their truck.

The cougar, which stared at the family as they left, was shot and killed two hours later by a "predator attack team" of conservation officers, who found it about 15 metres from the site of the attack.
The attack occurred about 25 paces from the cabin where the group was staying in the bush between Kelly Lake and Pear Lake, about 15 kilometres from Clinton in the south Cariboo.
They had been planning to stay at the site until Wednesday. Instead it was cordoned off with yellow police tape on Thursday.

Patterson said he had a few scrapes on his leg but otherwise was all right. However, he was just starting to feel the shock Thursday night. He hadn't slept since the attack. "It was a horrible sight to see," he said. "I said earlier I was scared, but I was just pumped. It was survival time. I didn't know what it was . . . but I wasn't going to let that boy die."

The Pattersons stayed the night at a Clinton hotel before heading back to Kamloops.

"This fellow is certainly a hero," conservation officer Rod Olsen said. "With a cougar, if you're going to be attacked, you have to fight back. He did the right thing: he acted quickly and saved the boy's life.
"It was pretty selfless to go in there because even a 70-pound cat - it could have been fatal for an adult, easily," Olsen said.

Colton was reported to be in good condition Thursday after surgery at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver. The hospital said in a news release that it was not authorized to say anything further about his condition.
However, Clinton RCMP said in a news release the boy was bitten and clawed, with injuries to his face, head, neck and upper chest.

His parents refused interviews, but said in the hospital statement that when he was attacked, Colton rolled himself into a ball and used his arms to protect his head. They said Colton is in high spirits and feels "ripped off" that he didn't get to stay for the rest of the planned camping trip.

"The boy is doing great," Patterson said. "Can you imagine that? The cat was flinging him around like he was a piece of paper."

Faith Crosson, one of Patterson's Kelly Lake neighbours, said she spoke with Patterson Thursday morning. Having heard the story first-hand, she is convinced Patterson is a hero who saved the boy's life.
"It was a very traumatic thing," Crosson said. "To put your life at risk to save another, that's what makes a hero."

But Patterson gave the credit to his daughter, Larah, who is a close friend of Colton's. "Colton's the survivor. [Larah] went over there because she thought something was wrong," he said. "Another minute and the game warden said he would have been dead."

Cpl. Pete Bes said Thursday that after the attack, Colton was taken to the Clinton RCMP station, then taken by ambulance to Ashcroft hospital and airlifted to Vancouver.

The "predator attack team" camped out at the site and with the help of two tracking dogs searched Thursday in case there was another cougar in the area. Olsen said the public should not be unduly worried, as cougar attacks are "quite rare." The cougar likely mistook the boy for prey, he said. The area around the campsite is heavily forested, with a lot of prey for cougars such as mule deer and mountain sheep.

Olsen said this is the first cougar attack in the B.C. Interior since 1995; the last case in B.C. was in Powell River last year.

With files from Robert Koopmans, Kamloops Daily News and Sunny Freeman, Vancouver Sun

© Vancouver Sun 2007

quote:

The "predator attack team" camped out at the site and with the help of two tracking dogs searched Thursday in case there was another cougar in the area. Olsen said the public should not be unduly worried, as cougar attacks are "quite rare." The cougar likely mistook the boy for prey, he said. The area around the campsite is heavily forested, with a lot of prey for cougars such as mule deer and mountain sheep.

Since when does a cougar make this mistake? It, like many other predators, sized up the boy and figured he was the easiest meal it could take. Lacking fear of humans and the scent, it was an instinctive reaction. Nate

I noticed that too! Predators don't make those kind of "mistakes." They're just looking for the easiest lunch there is!

Quite a story, no? Let's hope our beaurocracy here doesn't go down the same path as Canada's!

(Sorry, friends to the north, it's just how it is!)

friar

I guess that would be like going to Mcdonalds and mistaking the cashier for a hamburger. Not sure why people need to personify the wild predators, but it gives them the air of compassion. Glad the dad kept a cool head and was able to act.

John

quote:

predator attack team

thats a hell of a way to kill a cat...