Mountain Lion Attack in Cleveland National Forest

hvydrt · Post by **hvydrt** » Tue May 05, 2009 5:56 pm

Crazy story. Middle of the day, right near the campground, 2 adults and a dog, and the lion still attacks???

CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST – A man from Wildomar is crediting his dog Hoggie for saving his life.

William Morse, 41, was walking Tuesday on a trail at the Falcon Crest Campground off Ortega Highway when out of the corner of his eye he saw a mountain lion crouching near a restroom area about 40 feet ahead of him.

His Queensland Heeler/Labrador mix, who just turned 5, sprang between Morse and the mountain lion that was double his size.

The cat grabbed him by his underbelly and ripped him open.

Morse ran to his dog's side and pulled him to safety as the cat ran away. His wife Candy was a short distance away.

"He saved my life and my wife's life," Morse said crying. "If he hadn't been there, my wife and I would have been dead."

Morse drove to a nearby Cal Fire station and reported the attack. Then he raced to Clinton Keith Veterinary Hospital in Wildomar.

Hoggie has been in surgery for more than three hours and veterinarians are hopeful that the dog will survive.

The U.S. Forest Service has since closed the campground area around Blue Jay campground while authorities search for the mountain lion, said Brian Harris, public affairs officer with the Cleveland National Forest.

The campground is expected to be closed for at least a few days, Harris said.

Morse hopes other outdoor enthusiasts are aware of the dangers of hiking in the wilderness.

"I've been going out to Blue Jay for 21 years, and this is the first encounter I've ever had," he said.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dog- ... department

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:23 pm

man sucks about the dog, i hate that stuff.

but do we really know that he mountain lion was going to attack the guy?

hvydrt · Post by **hvydrt** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:45 pm

yeah, it could have just wanted to snack on the dog.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:17 pm

Lots of assumptions being made in the various articles that are coming out about this. Here is one interesting bit:

Downing says the man waved his arms and screamed until the lion broke free of the dog, which was taken to an animal hospital.

from Fox News, (so you know it's fair and balanced -

) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519064,00.html

Makes me think the lion was after the dog - if it was nervy enough to attack the people, it wouldn't be scared off by arm-waving and yelling.

Sucks all around - this is one of those stories where you definitely think "that could have been me". Poor guy - I hope his dog survives.

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:27 am

Looks like the mountain lion attacked the dog in self defense:

OC Register wrote:“It doesn’t look like the lion was interested in the dog as a meal,” said Fish and Game Lt. Dan Sforza. “It was just defending itself. We have a policy to determine if this is a public safety threat and I am not classifying it as that.”

[SNIP]

According to Sforza’s interpretation of Morse’s account, both animals seem to have spotted each other at the same time. The lion started to run off and Hoggie [the dog] ran after it. Then, Sforza said, it appears the lion turned back and attacked the dog, grabbing him by his underbelly and ripping him open.

Morse raised his hands in the air, trying to make himself appear larger, and ran to Hoggie’s side. The mountain lion ran off.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:07 pm

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... -lion.html

State wildlife officials said today that a dog involved in a battle with a mountain lion in the Cleveland National Forest was likely the aggressor and there was no evidence that the cougar had targeted the canine’s owners.