I was called about this situation from a local Amish on Friday. The incident happened on/near 2 of my best farms with farmers I know well. I spoke in-depth with the Amish guy attacked, whom I know about the incident. I assure you he is of sound mind and very reliable…
They had seen these cats…3 of them for the past 5-7 weeks. I talked with 3 of the 5-6 people who saw all 3 of them...often together. There’s a full size, 120+ lb cat…normal color brown, and two smaller ones, one lighter colored one BLACK. One guy watched the black one for over one hour..,it killed a groundhog. Now, Amish are pretty different folk…but they’re HONEST….not perfect but darn honest. They don’t make up fish stories or conspire.
Anyway, this guy saw the 3 cats right along a back road and called the PA Game Comm. They came out, sniffed around and told him to call them if there were any more problems. The next day, he saw the brown one and yellow one sunning right along the road in a hay field. He grabbed his 30-30 and came in from behind to shoot them. He was too far out BUT they saw him. He came in closer to them…and they finally stood. He shot the larger one…it dropped like a rock. The smaller yellowish one fled. Five seconds goes by and the brown gets up and scoots, crossing the road he originally saw them on.
He followed an obvious blood trail, which crossed the road and went into the woods. The blood trail slowed to a trickle and hooked back out into a field. He came back out and followed a tractor path back to the original spot where it crossed the road. That’s when he was attacked.
The other cat, the smaller yellowish one, screamed and leaped out of a tree above him. It was a solid 30+ foot drop and knocked him over. He lost his gun as it flew 5-6 feet away and his side/hip was hurt. This guy is 55 yrs old. The cat came at him for nearly 10 minutes scratching and clawing at his face and hands/arms. He fought it off as it shredded his hat, box of little cigars and 2 boxers of bullets. Several times it came at him standing on its back legs. He finally was able to reach his knife and stuck it in its lower abdomen, 3 times. Then it fled.
He crawled to a neighbors house and passed out in their kitchen. He was briefly hospitalized with scratches on his face, hands and arms.
Here’s a few pics. I am sure this is a case of 3 “pet” Mtn lion cats that someone dropped off…maybe even as a sick joke. At least one is dead…IMO, but no body found. These things are solitary and wary animals so running in a pack and sunning themselves in broad daylight is just absurd. Unless they’re some dumb cage pets….turned loose. You can buy these things on the black market…and someone probably got tired of them. I hope some little kid doesn’t get killed from their stupidity…
The woods where the critter ran to. It was shot about 40 yrd behind me...
Blood trail. They took tons of DNA/Blood...and so did the neighbors. They dont trust the PGC..
More...
Where the fight/attack took place...
The tree...it was in the top Y of the tree...
LOL..PGC trying to catch one. I dont think its gonna do it...
Last edited by Evanescence : 10-15-2008 at 06:05 AM.
thanks for sharing the story E! I happened to go around the corner from my home tonight and see a wild fox.
The story is amazing. I love the pics of your yard. It reminds me of how much I love the Lancaster area.
Not my yard...its about 5 miles away...
But, I hunt/trap all around there and know them guys...
The Amish are real shook up about this...that dude was scratched up real bad....if that Mtn Lion was a full sized wild one...it would have killed him easy...
But, I hunt/trap all around there and know them guys...
The Amish are real shook up about this...that dude was scratched up real bad....if that Mtn Lion was a full sized wild one...it would have killed him easy...
Its been crazy down there...
Please be careful E! We can't afford to lose your voice of reason on these boards! That's wild! Have you ever gotten bitten by something you've trapped?
Ha...not ey JL..but some close calls. Last year I easily busted 300 fox...17 on that one farm just 1/2 mile from the Cat incident. The amish farmers were all talking to me asking me to trap it...
Fox and raccoons are pretty small but snippy critters....they're usually pretty easy to deal with. Had a 50 lb beaver play dead on me under water one time and darn near got bit one time..that was pretty wild.
In 2004 I hunted one of these Mtn Lions in idaho and bagged one. AMAZING journey and nothing to play with. These are someone's "pets" turned loose..maybe even a sick joke. You can by a baby Mtn lion on the black market easy....if you got 5K...
Scariest thing we have in our neighborhood is a 50 pound skunk. No joke. Huge! It's been around for years according to neighbors. Actually saw it. Bigger than my beagle.
I know there would be cobras in our neighbourhood, but haven't seen any... but have seen a pretty large Python... it tried to come into our house a couple of years ago... likely still alive across the road in the looooooooong grass... but these lions sound really scary... must be unpleasant thinking they could still be out there...
Please be careful E! We can't afford to lose your voice of reason on these boards! That's wild! Have you ever gotten bitten by something you've trapped?
i totally agree, be careful E. cool story. the most dangerous things i've got around here are bobcats, coyotes and wild dogs...my neighbor actually has 5-6 wolves she raised from pups, but they're sweet.
These cats are someone's pet caged Mtn lion..dangerous but not like the wild. BUT...
There's now a lot of reason to not believe this Amish guy...I'm almost sure now that he faked the whole thing...self-inflicted wounds and all. He prolly did this becuase he wants people out there looking for the cats people saw...
But he is in some HOT water..and I do mean HOT water...if he faked it...
I have to say, and felt bad to mention at first, but that blood line doesn't look real to me. Looks like it was just poured out down a line. Seems to me it wouldn't be so perfect looking.
I have to say, and felt bad to mention at first, but that blood line doesn't look real to me. Looks like it was just poured out down a line. Seems to me it wouldn't be so perfect looking.
I agree..but even the skeptical person i am got wrapped up in the story and didnt question it till Sunday. DNA dont lie..and that willtell the tail...
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