Statistically speaking, a bear attack is about as likely as being struck by lighting.
And being attacked by a cougar is also not a common occurrence, even for those who travel the western backwoods on a regular basis.
So, what about being attacked by a cougar and then saved by a bear. The likelihood of that would be astronomical, right??
Any statisticians in the house??
Well, believe it or not that is precisely what one man claims happened to him this past weekend in Butte County, California.
Bob Biggs was hiking through a gorge of the Feather River in Northern California, when he spotted a mother bear and cub ahead of him on the trail. His instincts kicked-in (being a seasoned outdoorsman) as he slowly backed away giving the bear ample room.
Biggs said he actually saw the bear two more times during his walk before this story took a very strange turn.
While being mindful of a bruin in the area, without warning, Biggs was hit hard from behind by another large animal.
Oh my God, it was a cougar!!
The cougar (estimated at 100 pounds) pounced on Bob’s back and started shaking him from side to side. He suffered puncture wounds on his forearm. Biggs had a climbers axe with him he used to swat at the cougar, but to no avail.
Within seconds; however, the bear he had seen earlier was on the scene and grabbed the cougar from Bob’s back. According to Biggs, the bear fought with the cougar long enough for him to escape the mêlée.
Biggs returned home to tell his wife what had happened. She could hardly believe it since her husband had been hiking that region for 60 years without any troubles.
Officials at California‘s wildlife department are not convinced either, stating that the ‘facts in this incident have yet to be proven’.
What do you think?
Did Bob Biggs get attacked by a cougar and then miraculously saved by a nearby mother bear travelling with her cub?
Outdoorsguy
P.S. I my next Blog Post, I’ll recount the time I was held at knife point during a home invasion, when a kindly convicted felon broke-in to save me.