http://www.sj-r.com/top-storie...-teenage-deer-hunter



Mountain lion thought to have attacked teenage deer hunter



By CHRIS YOUNG (chris.young@sj-r.com)
The State Journal-Register
Posted Oct 03, 2011 @ 11:00 PM

BAYLIS — A 14-year-old deer hunter said he was attacked by a mountain lion Sunday evening, just a minute’s walk from his family’s Pike County home.

His father, a Baptist minister, said his son was fortunate.

“If God had not protected that boy, it would have been over,” said Gary Dice, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Pittsfield.

The young hunter, Jeremiah Dice, managed to fend off the attack with a knife and then ran home.

Jeremiah was taken to the emergency room out of fear of rabies, according to his mother, Pam Dice. He had no puncture wounds and was treated for scratches on his face and released.

Jeremiah described the mountain lion to a “t,” Gary Dice said.

The family was waiting Monday afternoon for representatives from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to arrive and examine Jeremiah’s clothing and knife.

“DNR is concerned I can’t prove it,” Gary said. “I trust my son, and I want the truth.

“Regardless of what it was, it is still out there, and it attacked a human being.”



‘It’s big … I’m scared’

The attack occurred near Baylis, northwest of Pittsfield. There are only three confirmed reports of mountain lions in Illinois since they were eliminated from the state in the late 1800s. Missouri, however, has confirmed the big cats 26 times since 1994.

Gary Dice said his son was hunting in his stand when the boy heard a flock of turkeys take flight nearby.

“Then the deer started snorting,” Gary Dice said.

Jeremiah saw a large animal standing near a flag placed 20 yards from the deer stand to help hunters distance. Jeremiah then radioed his mother to alert her to what was going on.

The big cat walked out in the open, not far from a flag placed 30 yards out.

After hearing it leave the area, the boy radioed to tell her he was coming home.

“He said, ‘Mom, there’s a big cat back here,’” Gary said, relating Jeremiah’s words. “He said, ‘It’s big… he ran away, so I’m going to get down and go to the house. … I’m scared.’

“He took three steps, and it was on his back,” Gary said.

Jeremiah elbowed the animal in the ribs, throwing the animal off of him.

“He got to his knees, and there it was face to face with him,” Gary said. “He told me, ‘It just got real still, and I didn’t know what to do.’”

Jeremiah reported the animal’s breath smelled like “dead rabbits.”

“His fangs were out, and he looked eyeball to eyeball to me and lunged,” Gary said, retelling his son’s story.

The attack shredded the bill of Jeremiah’s cap and pushed it down over his face — providing some protection. His heavy camouflage coat was shredded down to the boy’s belt.

Verification sought

Jeremiah is already an experienced hunter at age 14.

“I’ve taught him to hunt since he was old enough to sit still,” Gary said. “He is about six feet tall and over 200 pounds. He is not just a kid.”

Jeremiah told his parents he starting swinging his hunting knife in an attempt to get the animal to leave. He cut it, but not deeply, and the animal knocked him backwards again. Jeremiah hit it in the ribs again and let go of his knife.

The big cat rolled off Jeremiah and ran off into the woods.

Gary Dice said his son started to run — backwards at first, to be sure the animal would not follow.

He grabbed his knife and ran for the house, “the fastest he had run in his life.”

When the elder Dice first heard the report of a mountain lion, he was a few minutes from home and skeptical.

“But then I saw him and the look on his face of terror and fear,” he said.

Gary Dice said Jeremiah’s description of the big cat was that it was as large as a Great Dane, with a long tail that curled.

Depending upon the sex, mountain lions range on average from 75 pounds for a female to 160 pounds for a male.

Gary Dice found the shredded cap, but never did find Jeremiah’s bow.

As for Jeremiah: “He’s fine,” his father said. “But he hasn’t slept since.”

Chris Young can be reached at 788-1528.

Identification

According to the website Living with Wildlife in Illinois, domestic dogs and bobcats are most likely to be misidentified as a mountain lion in Illinois.

Bobcats weigh 10-40 pounds, while mountain lions weigh 75-240 pounds. Both are secretive and elusive.

Most sightings are fleeting.

Mountain lions once were found throughout the United States, according to The Cougar Network.

Conversion of prairies to agriculture, logging of forests, elimination of prey species like white-tailed deer and predator-reduction programs led to their extirpation from Illinois by the 1870s.

Mountain lions

*”Mountain lion,” “cougar,” “puma,” “catamount” and “panther” all are names for the same animal: Puma concolor.

*There have only been three confirmed sightings of mountain lions in Illinois since the late 1800s.

*Missouri has had 26 confirmed reports since 1994.

*See a map of confirmed sightings.

It will be interisting to see what DNA samples turn up

Ha, Kathi beat me to it.

As for what DNA turns up, this is Illinois, DNA will be inconclusive at best. This isn't the first mtn lion in Illinois. The results are always the same and the stories are as follows:

-This lion was just passing through IL it actually traveled over 1000 miles from the Black Hills and was just looking for a mate.

-Tame lion, the teeth show that this lion was mostly eating kibbles and bits before it was released into the wild by a pet owner.

-The lion hitched a ride in on a train from Wyoming.

-The scrathes the youth recieved could not be identified, they weren't caused by a bobcat, housecat, dog, or bear, outside of that we can't prove what they were caused by.

-We have no idea where the lion came from or if it was wild or a pet.

http://www.sj-r.com/top-storie...n-lion-attack-untrue



Young deer hunter admits story about mountain lion attack untrue



By CHRIS YOUNG (chris.young@sj-r.com)
The State Journal-Register
Posted Oct 11, 2011 @ 11:00 PM
Last update Oct 12, 2011 @ 06:45 AM

A 14-year-old Pike County deer hunter who claimed he was attacked by a mountain lion has admitted the story was not true.

The young hunter, Jeremiah Dice, initially told his parents he managed to fend off the attack with a knife.

He had been deer hunting just a short distance from his parents’ Pike County home in Baylis, northwest of Pittsfield.

Jeremiah provided a detailed account of the attack and described a mountain lion to a “t,” his father, Gary Dice, said the day after the purported attack.

“We now have a written statement from the Dice family that says they were told by their son Jeremiah that the story about being attacked by a mountain lion was made up,” said Chris McCloud, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Jeremiah was taken to the emergency room, where he was treated for scratches on his face and released.

Apparently, it was a fall from his tree stand - not a mountain lion - that caused his injuries, McCloud said.

“The concern from the boy was that he had apparently fallen out of his tree stand and he was afraid if he told his parents he would not be allowed to go hunting by himself,” McCloud said. “So he came up with that story instead.”

DNR conservation police officers took a report and gathered up Jeremiah’s torn jacket, scratched cap and his knife. However, the items were never sent off for DNA testing.

“We had not pursued sending the items off,” McCloud said. “They came to us.”

McCloud said there are “minor penalties” for filing a false police report, but said DNR will not pursue charges at this point.

“As a matter of procedure, we are going to forward our investigation to the Pike County state’s attorney, and they can do with it as they wish,” he said.

McCloud said it is important for those who enjoy the outdoors in Pike County to know that the mountain lion story is untrue.

Chris Young can be reached at 788-1528.

Idiot !! No wonder they don't take lion sightings seriously.

It reminds me of the time many years ago I heard the story of a close acquaintance of her son who had a near miss with death. There was a hole in the ceiling of her home and her son had a bullet which allegedly had come through the hole and almost hit him. As I recall, he thought divine providence had saved his life. His mother believed him.

I would say what really happened was that he and a friend were messing with a gun in the living room that accidentally discharged. Maybe it was divine providence that saved his stupid life...

Anybody else notice the statement about the elimination of whitetails as part of the demise of the cougar? I thought there are more WT deer in the U.S. now than there ever were?

I just saw a deer that had been attacked by a mountain lion ! It survived but it's back was shredded !
But wait ,there are no lions in NY state .October ? Must have been a zombie !!
Some day I'll see one like so many NY'ers I've talked to.

Kind of begs the question: should a 14 year old boy be out hunting alone? Even though this kid sounds 'big' being in a tree stand has its own inherent dangers.

I didn't grow up in a hunting family so I can't relate to being 14 and wanting to get out in the woods without a parent at least nearby.