Cat Attacks: True Stories and Hard Lessons from Cougar Country

FANTASTIC BOOK! ONCE OPENED YOU CAN NOT PUT IT DOWN! I WAS SO MOVED BY THE STORY OF THE LITTLE BOY THAT I E-MAILED THE AUTHOR TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOY. DEAN MILLER HAD THE WONDERFUL COURTESY TO E-MAIL ME BACK TO TELL ME THAT THE LITTLE BOY HAD MOVED AND HAD NUMEROUS OPERATIONS BUT WAS RECOVERING. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS THAT MAKES YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE RIGHT THERE WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE STORY.

Cat Attacks was a really cool book. All of the stories collected in this volume are true stories of real people who were attacked or killed by mountain lions. It is written in an energetic style that really puts the reader into each of the scenes. There are graphs that describe the number and demographics of recent trends involving human-puma encounters. Probably of most interest though is that fact that the writers of this book do not approach mountain lions from a tree-hugger perspective, which is rare for book on mountain lions. It is an exciting read, and some of the chapter titles may give you an indication of the kind of mountain lion book this is (for example, "Profile of the Killer"; "A Father's Nightmare"; "Hunting the Truth"; "Into the Jaws of Death"; "Stalked"; and "Hard Truths" to name just a few). Most of the stories are re-created as though you're there on the trail with these people as they're attacked: Barbara Schoener, for instance, when she was attacked and killed near the American River on the Western States Trail. Or there with Cindy Parolin when she wrestled with a cougar to save her six-year-old son. Or the Cuyamaca State Park stories near San Diego with ranger Laura Itogawa where mountain lions seem to be unusually aggressive and have attacked people a number of times. This book dispels many of the popular myths, most of which ironically, have sprung up because of conservationist efforts in the past fifty years. Because I live in a remote area of Arizona and I often go for long-distance jogs alone, I can not tell you how helpful (and welcome) this book was. Most other cougar books I researched painted the mountain lion out to be a wonderful, beautiful animal and glossed over the very real facts (some times quite literally with beautiful photographs) that this animal has attacked nearly 60 people in the US and Canada since 1986. Despite the fact that cougar numbers are at their all-time highest in 150 years, the general belief is that the animal is endangered. This book offers a very different perspective in the question as to who really is the endangered species. Stacey Cochran Author of CLAWS available for 80 cents

fo ay one inerested in the subject this book is a great read. it picked up momentum until I couldn't put it down. The stories are thrilling although many ar very unnerving. It also provides varying perspectives on attacks and non-attacks. Good storytelling by the writers. I highly recommend it.

"Cat Attacks" investigates the nature of the growing number of strange and terrifying encounters of ordinary people with wild cougars. Too many of these incidents are full-scale, blitz-like attacks on unsuspecting people, especially children, out to enjoy the bounty of the great outdoors. Virtually all these attacks end, if not in the death or injury of the people involved, then in a serious loss of their sense of security and well-being through the shear terror of what they endured. "Cat Attacks" proves once again that not only is reality stranger than fiction, but more captivating too. People have forgotten the dangers that cougars present since their numbers have been so severely decimated through centuries of extermination. Once their range extended across the entire country. Cougar attacks were once almost unheard of and many people now seem to assume they present no real danger. However, since 1990 attacks have been steadily on the rise. Like the setting in a fictional horror story, the people attacked in "Cat Attacks" were engaging in innocent, everyday activity: jogging, hiking, sleeping, picking mushrooms, watching birds and cross country skiing. The children were walking to school, running track, horseback riding, clinging to their parents in the presence of a park ranger and one was even riding inside a camper with his family! None of these people suspected the imminence of life threatening danger.The authors explain that cougars are virtually silent and attack so quickly witnesses report only a blur. Most victims never know danger is present until they are hit hard usually from behind. The animal bites the back of the victim's neck trying to cut the spinal column while pinning the victim with its claws. If the attack is successful, the victim is dragged away by the head in the cougar's mouth. Some people are still conscious as they are being eaten alive.I read this book to make sense of my own unexpected cougar encounter, which occurred by remarkable coincidence the same month this book was published in June 2001. I was near the end of the Lost Mine Trail in the Chisos Mountains in the Big Bend National Park, Texas. Having a bad hip and being unsure how far and fast I can hike, I go alone so I won't slow others down. [Big mistake! See page 109.] I only had a bottle of water, a trail map and two canes with me. After three hours or so I made it to the end of trail-it was spectacular-and had started back down. Suddenly I looked up and there was this huge monster, killing-machine mountain lion crossing the trail about 30 yards in front of me! Good God! 30 yards! I was hours away from safety. I did not run [Good move! See page 109.], but remained still. He had massive legs and huge jaw muscles! He could have easily killed me and dragged me away to be eaten [See chapters 1 and 14], but by shear chance he was not interested [A probable low risk encounter. See page 180.]. Without betraying any fear, he crossed my

This book is a needed dose of reality for those who venture into lion (cougar) country. It is well reseached and documented with the details of fatal and non-fatal lion attacks. The book also has a lot of good research data on lions and their behavior that is informative. As the authors admit these attacks are unusual but they do occur, and the information given in public service brochures on being safe in lion country is not as helpful as one might be led to believe. Having hunted lions on several occassions and been stalked and hunted by one of them on one occassion makes it refreshing to read a well documented account of the darker side of some of these cats. If you spend any time at all in lion country, even a short hike from your car along a park trail, you need to read this book.