Ex-Marine fends off lion with chainsaw

[Mobbme]

‘It batted me three or four times with its front paws,’ mechanic says

CODY, Wyoming - Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a former U.S. Marine says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine, said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.

Britton revved his 18-inch chain saw and tried to back away. But the 100-pound lion followed.

As the animal pounced, Britton raised his saw and met it head-on — a collision he said felt like a grown man running right into him.

"It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Britton later discovered he'd inflicted a gash on the lion's shoulder. He said he was surprised the damage wasn't worse.

"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in. I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick," he said.

The wounded animal retreated, leaving Britton with a only small puncture wound on his forearm.

The attack occurred Sunday evening. Wildlife agents shot and killed the lion Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal.

Authorities say the lion was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving. The lion was 4 to 5 years old.

Mountain lions are considered reclusive by nature and officials said the circumstances of the attack were highly unusual. Wyoming officials have documented only eight cases of mountain lions acting aggressively toward humans over the last decade.

Ex-Marine fends off lion with chainsaw - Life- msnbc.com

If he had used a hockey stick, he probably would've killed the poor Lion.

[Dreadnought]

God bless him all is safe. See a marine adapts, improvises and overcomes.)

[sappersgt]

Debbie would have got a ticket for hunting out season.

[tankie]

God bless him all is safe. See a marine adapts, improvises and overcomes.)

Yea im glad he,s safe ,, a tankie would have thrown an empty bottle at it

[toemag]

Glad everyone is safe, with a new tale to tell, and the scar to prove it.

Maybe the next time he ventures out into the woods with the family he'll pack a real SAW (M249).

Tony

[Mobbme]

Yea im glad he,s safe ,, a tankie would have thrown an empty bottle at it

hahahha ))

[Jimbo]

I hate mountain lions. I grew up in Powell about 22 miles NE of Cody. My barber had one heck of a story. He was out in the Absaroka Mountains east of Yellowstone driving after his elk hunt. It was snowing and a mountain lion darted out in front of him. Well he had never seen a live wild one before and of course, being the Wyomingite he is, he pulls over grabs his rifle and starts tracking the thing in the fresh snow. He gets to the bank of a river and realizes he has no clue where it is, and the hairs on the back of his head start to stand. Thinking should have stayed in the truck, turns away from the river and starts looking around. His instincts are telling him that the thing is nearby, but he has no clue.

CRACK, he hears the ice behind him break and he turns around to see the mountain lion bound out of the river on the other side.

I do believe his exact quote to me was "that's the last time I mess with a %$#&ing mountain lion!" The thing had climbed into the trees and at some point was likely right above him. Those things are sneaky I've seen just about everything we have in NW Wyoming grizzlies, wolves, even a wolverine once, but I have only seen the back half of a mountain lion as it dashed under a guard rail by the highway.

I am very glad that everyone is ok, outside of the cat, attacks are rare in Wyoming, the last one that I know of was south of Powell by the Shoshone River. Two kids (4th and 5th grade I think) were walking with their golden retriever. A yearling lion starts running at the kids and the dog thankfully intercepts. The kids run home and now the strange part, hours later in comes the dog with hardly a scratch.

The fact that the lion attacked a full grown man, that is really odd behavior.

[omon]

some ppl have them as pets.


Pet Cougars - Pet Mountain Lions - Pet Puma

[RustyBattleship]

some ppl have them as pets.


Pet Cougars - Pet Mountain Lions - Pet Puma

I wonder how they can afford a litter box big enough for it.

[Blue]

Yeah, I'll bet that leash and collar do a lot of good when he decides its time to leave or eat! I'll stick with my dog. I have known a few people around these parts that have had them for pets and had no problems but all it takes is once and that would be my luck!

[RustyBattleship]

My family has had its share with these big cats. Once on a hunting trip up in the High Sierras I had one follow me all the way back to camp. My hunting partner was about a half mile ahead of me but the birds BEHIND me were squawking and flying off. My partner was shocked to see deer running PAST him.

When I went out that night to gather some more firewood, I could feel a pair of eyes watching me. After bringing back the first armload of wood, I strapped on my Colt .45 ACP before going out for more.

The next morning we found its tracks all around the campsite. I was pretty sure of where his cave was. It was in a cliff side of a small water run-off gorge on the north side of Wood Mtn. There was a ledge running up the side of the rock cliff to the cave opening at about a 45 degree angle. I thought that would be a perfect place for a Mountain Lion (or Cougar as also known as out west).

The next year I decided to get that cat (as there was still a bounty on them) and carried an M-1 Carbine with a 30 round banana clip of soft nose bullets. Alas, a landslide had broken off that cliff face and there was no cave left.

Back in Wisconsin they were known as Panthers or Painters. Though Puma is also an official name. When my great grandparents were living in the Kickapoo River Valley for a couple of years (waiting for a Doctor from Austria to do his medical tour and treat my great grandfather's eyes), they had a scary experience with a Panther.

Though blind, he was walking along a smooth, well traveled path through the woods and his cane struck something on the ground. As he bent over to pick it up, he heard a Panther leap out of the tree next to him and felt him go across his back. Then he heard it run off into the woods.

My grandmother and her sisters told the Kickapoos about it and they went out and confirmed by the tracks that a Panther tried to attack old, helpless and blind Henry Weiler but he "ducked" just in time. Missing its prey, the cat just ran off into the woods.

Another reason why, while camping out in the wilds, I carry at LEAST a .45 ACP. Usually a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Magnum.

[bonehead]

I am glad the marine is ok, but the 18" chainsaw? If he had a bigger cc saw and a longer blade he would not only be able to cut more firewood in the same time and the cat would not have survived the altercation. I have a few cougar stories as well. Unfortunately Oregon department of wildlife is a rotten mix of blue haired nazis so Oregonians adopted the "3xS" rule. Shoot, shovel, shut up. Now that using dogs when hunting cougars in the state has been outlawed the number of cats and altercations have increased. Too many so called hunters refuse to hunt cougars with out being able to have the dogs do all the work. I say. " if you are too lazy or afraid to hunt cougars/bears with out dogs then you should stick to the shooting galleries at the county fair and leave the real hunting to those who are willing and able." However, If you do hunt one of these animals, bring your "A" game or suffer the consequences because when push comes to shove, they do not consider you as the top of the food chain.

[Swift Sword]

God bless him all is safe. See a marine adapts, improvises and overcomes.)

...and thereby avoided a real CAT-astrophe !

[Officer of Engineers]

*** groan ***

[Dreadnought]

Yea im glad he,s safe ,, a tankie would have thrown an empty bottle at it

Or an empty brass.)

Wow, cool looking pet!