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Man kills cougar with pocket Knife
« on: Aug 5th, 2002, 10:40pm » |
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This story is taken from http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={C11BE0FC-FE33-4650-84D6-434941CD9265}
B.C. man kills cougar with pocket knife
Rare attack on a human
Ian Bailey
National Post
Saturday, August 03, 2002
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VANCOUVER - A retired mill worker is recovering in hospital today after he killed a cougar by using his pocket knife to stab the animal and then cut its throat, ending a life-and-death struggle that interrupted his evening walk near a Vancouver Island village.
Wildlife officials and residents of Port Alice are stunned by David Parker's victory over the 80-pound cat, left dead beside a logging road after its fight with the 62-year-old man.
Ken Fujino, district conservation officer for nearby Port Hardy, examined the dead cougar and said it was thin, "but didn't look like it was starving to death or anything like that."
Mr. Fujino said Mr. Parker, described as fit and strong, is very lucky to be alive. "An adult cougar is quite an animal," he said. "They are a lot stronger and quicker than human beings."
"They have got claws. They have got teeth. If [Mr. Parker] did not have a knife, I am sure the circumstances would be a little different," Mr. Fujino added.
But Mr. Parker, who lives in Port Alice with his wife, a retired nurse, did not emerge unscathed. He was listed in stable condition in a Victoria hospital last night after hours of surgery that reportedly focused on his face.
After his battle, Mr. Parker walked almost a kilometre until he stumbled upon logging worker Jeff Reaume and asked for a ride to the hospital in Port Alice, a community 500 kilometres north of Victoria.
Mr. Reaume yesterday described the whole experience as "unreal, unbelievable," recalling how he drove a calm Mr. Parker, his face torn and bloodied, for help.
Along the way, he cruised by the dead cat. "I saw the cougar on the side of the road as I was driving," Mr. Reaume said. "I said, 'You killed it.' He goes, 'I killed it with my knife.' I was like, 'Wow. Unreal.' "
The knife had a three-inch blade.
Mr. Parker was transported to hospital in Port Hardy, then flown to Victoria. "He knew what he was doing," Mr. Reaume said. "If he had not known what he was doing, I do not think he would still be here."
Larry Pepper, the Port Alice Mayor, agreed. "Having that knife in his pocket was the best thing he ever did. It's all right to say lay there and play dead once they knock you down, but when they're chewing the side of your face off that's not really easy to do."
Official advice on dealing with attacking cougars suggests the best response is to fight for survival, partly because they focus on prey to the exclusion of any distraction.
Wildlife officials are planning an autopsy on the cougar.
Cougar attacks on humans are rare. Sixty-one have been reported in B.C. in the last 100 years, resulting in eight deaths. In one especially tragic case in August, 1996, Cindy Parolin died near Princeton in southern B.C. after fighting a cougar that had attacked her six-year-old son.
Port Alice has had other attacks. In February, 2001, a mill worker used his bicycle, lunch pail and his bare fists to fight off a cougar mauling another man.
There are many cougars on Vancouver Island. One was found near the B.C. legislature a few years ago.
Cougars are known as efficient predators with strong jaws, speed, and the ability to conceal themselves.
They eat deer, elk, moose, rabbits, raccoons or grouse.
"They are very strong animals. They are agile. They can run fast, climb trees, jump long distances," said Lance Sunquist, regional enforcement manager for the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.
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