Shutterstock
The fight or flight response is something within all humans. It is triggered when any human is involved in a situation that they perceive to be harmful or a threat to their life. Seeing a 160-pound mountain lion attack a young child in front of you is one of those situations. Its either you run away and protect yourself or, in an act of insane bravery, you attack this lion to save the child. The latter is exactly what happened Sunday morning in Santa Clara County, California. A group of four children and six adults were walking through the Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve when a mountain lion jumped out of a bush and attacked one of the children. The closest adult to the attack attempted his own, striking the lion in its ribs. This caused the lion to relinquish its hold on the child and run away.
Brad Pennington, MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District ranger gave an update on the six-year-old. “Right now she has minor injuries,” said Pennington. “A couple punctured wounds to her calf. She was also treated for minor first aid and then her parents took her to the hospital.”
Since the incident occurred, the preserve has been closed until further notice as the authorities track down the mountain lion. “We will immobilize the cat and put it in a large trap so it come to it. But prior to that we will take DNA samples from it so we can make sure we have the correct cat,” said Cpt. Todd Tognazzini with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Thankfully, everyone escaped this potentially dangerous with their lives intact.
