# Man attacked by mountain lion. Or maybe a dog... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011 "2008-07-19T01:27:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/1 "2008-07-19T01:27:03Z")
Last week, a hiker reported he had been jumped by a big cat near Palo Alto. He said it had knocked him off the trail and then run off. He was shaken up, but otherwise unhurt. The authorities went into full damage control mode, calling in a tracker and his dogs to hunt the beast down. They were unable to find any sign of a mountain lion. Today, there was a little twist to the story: > [@](#): > > A man who claimed he was attacked by a mountain lion in Palo Alto’s Foothills Park won’t face charges, authorities said Thursday. > > Interviewed by police to see whether he might have fabricated his account, the unidentified 50-year-old Portola Valley man “stuck with his story,” said Palo Alto police Agent Dan Ryan, suggesting that **“if it wasn’t a mountain lion it was perhaps a dog.”** > > Ryan added, “We can pretty much prove there wasn’t a mountain lion, but we can’t prove that he made it all up.” > > The man’s call on Sunday sent state game wardens, a federal tracker and a team of hounds scurrying to the park to hunt for the aggressive cat in an effort that cost thousands of dollars. They found nothing, and a laboratory examination of the man’s shirt revealed no traces of contact with a cougar. > > That prompted police to get back in touch with the man. Filing a false emergency report is a misdemeanor in California. In all my years of hiking, I’ve never encounted a stealth attack dog. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/2 "2008-07-19T01:36:14Z")
I bet [this](http://www.dogguide.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/282785901_dd5888b1bb.jpg) is the culprit. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/3 "2008-07-19T01:40:26Z")
That’s hilarious! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/4 "2008-07-19T02:03:06Z")
A mountain lion that knocked him down, then simply ran off? Without a single body part in it’s mouth? Man, you guys have some wimpy mountain lions up there… 😉 I kid, but seriously, a woman was almost killed here a few years ago. From NBC news in San Diego - > [@](#): > > Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, a mountain lion pounced on a woman who was riding a bicycle with her friend, said Capt. Stephen Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority. > > The lion grabbed Ann Hjelle, 30, by her head and began dragging her. Her friend, Debi Nichols, began screaming for help and grabbed the victim’s legs in a struggle to free her. > > “This mountain lion jumped on her back and started dragging her,” Nichols said. “He dragged us down … about 100 yards into the brush and I just kept screaming. This guy would not let go. He had a hold of her face.” > > Several other mountain bikers responded, throwing rocks at the animal until it fled. > > “I picked up a rock and threw it at the cat and the rock hit the cat right on the side of the head and the cat took off straight ahead and let go of the woman,” Diego Lopez said. > > Michael Castellano, one of the mountain bikers who helped rescue Hjelle, said mountain lion sightings are not uncommon in the park. > > “I’ve seen mountain lions before and usually you’ll come around a corner and they’re more scared of you than anything, and they skitter off into the bushes,” Castellano said Friday in an interview on NBC “Today.” “This mountain lion was hunting and I don’t now why. I’ve never seen behavior like that. It was just unreal.” > > Hjelle was flown by helicopter to Mission Hospital where she was in critical condition early Friday, a nursing supervisor said. > > Later, the body of an unidentified man in his 30s was found at the top of a trail, near an unattended bicycle. Authorities told reporters that they had not confirmed that the man was killed by the mountain lion, but it seemed probable . An autopsy was scheduled for Friday. > > “We don’t know how long he’s been out there,” Miller said. “But it’s pretty obvious that an animal was involved in this (death).” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/5 "2008-07-19T02:21:58Z")
The first time I tried to go hiking at Whitling Ranch, it was closed because of mountain lion sightings. That was a couple of weeks before the attack on the cyclists. Nowadays, almost every trailhead in California has a big sign warning people that they’re entering mountain lion habitat. My theory about the Palo Alto “victim” – he slipped off the trail, got dinged up, embellished the story to a friend, reported it to back his story up, and got in a fib. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/6 "2008-07-19T02:47:37Z")
“Would you believe it was a Wolf?” No. “Then would you believe it was a rabid squirrel?” No. “I see. How about a really annoyed sparrow?” No. ---
**Author:** ![Maui\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Maui\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maui_Lion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/7 "2008-07-19T04:09:36Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] “I see. How about a really annoyed sparrow?” No. [/QUOTE] ## _DIES_😃 😃 On a more serious note, I wish they did charge him with something. If they found a mountain lion, they were gonna kill it, right? That would have been terrible for them to kill a cougar for his lie. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/8 "2008-07-19T04:20:03Z")
Hmmmmm…sounds like [this guy](http://www.examiner.com/a-1491450~Call_of_the_wild__Back_to_the_city.html) (in opening paragraph). :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/9 "2008-07-19T04:20:23Z")
## [QUOTE=Maui Lion] _DIES_😃 😃 On a more serious note, I wish they did charge him with something. If they found a mountain lion, they were gonna kill it, right? That would have been terrible for them to kill a cougar for his lie. [/QUOTE] It’s an injustice, I tell you! Wild animals are always getting falsely blamed for stuff like this because people know they can get away with it. Just look at all the blame put on my wild coyote brethren for missing pets and livestock. It’s never a coyote … it’s uh … that Chupacabra thing, yeah, that’s the ticket. Chupacabra. _nods_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/10 "2008-07-19T22:14:19Z")
There were mountain lion tracks found at a school a ways north of Palo Alto at the end of last year. > **[News – NBC Bay Area](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/)** > > Articles from the category: News And there was a mountain lion in the middle of Palo Alto 4 years ago. > **[The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/)** > > News about San Diego, California ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/11 "2008-07-19T22:24:42Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] Hmmmmm…sounds like [this guy](http://www.examiner.com/a-1491450~Call_of_the_wild__Back_to_the_city.html) (in opening paragraph). :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Or this one, from [the Crufts Dog Show hack](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a8Huad26fE) in **The Magic Christian** , one of the looniest and funniest movies ever… ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/12 "2008-07-19T22:26:15Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] Hmmmmm…sounds like [this guy](http://www.examiner.com/a-1491450~Call_of_the_wild__Back_to_the_city.html) (in opening paragraph). :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] From the article: > [@](#): > > Earl Hodnett, Fairfax County’s wildlife biologist, answered a call from a hysterical resident a few years back. A cottontail rabbit had wandered into the man’s Vienna-area backyard, and he felt his family was in peril. > > “He said, ‘I have children, and this rabbit is in my yard,’ ” Hodnett recalled. “He fully expected the county to dispatch somebody out there to capture or kill the rabbit.” > [@some guy in Vienna](#): > > That’s no ordinary rabbit! That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!..Look, that rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide, it’s a killer! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/13 "2008-07-19T22:38:10Z")
:smack: I meant to refer to Pinkfreud’s link to the funny pic, instead. Because one animal sight-gag deserves another… ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/14 "2008-07-20T03:26:34Z")
What? Nobody remembers [Jimmy Carter’s killer rabbit?](http://www.narsil.org/politics/carter/killer_rabbit.html) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/15 "2008-07-20T03:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] There were mountain lion tracks found at a school a ways north of Palo Alto at the end of last year… [/QUOTE] There **ARE** lions roaming the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains–that’s for sure. There are probably 4 or 5 wandering around between Pacifica and Ben Lomond. BUT…they couldn’t find _any_ sign; on his clothes or on the trail, just a day or two after the “attack”. That sounded fishy to me. Who knows, there could be an incident next week. It _is_ their habitat, after all. Too bad we like to build houses on the edge and walk around in the forests, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/16 "2008-08-06T21:17:26Z")
You must be psychic blondebear! [Idiot!](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CA_LION_ENCOUNTER_CAOL-?SITE=CAANR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/17 "2008-08-07T01:10:25Z")
Yep- Whiting Ranch, _again_. Petting a lion cub? How fucking stupid can one guy be? She should have killed him and eaten him… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/18 "2008-08-07T04:56:26Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Yep- Whiting Ranch, _again_. Petting a lion cub? How fucking stupid can one guy be? She should have killed him and eaten him… [/QUOTE] She would have if it had actually happened. It was probably just a feral cat. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/19 "2008-08-07T14:31:38Z")
A really big feral cat? Eeeek… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011/20 "2008-08-07T15:58:31Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] A really big feral cat? Eeeek… [/QUOTE] Would you believe a large angry squirrel? How about a thorny bush? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-attacked-by-mountain-lion-or-maybe-a-dog/457011.md?page=2)