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She has asked to remain anonymous, but recognition is required for any supermom who fights off a cougar that’s mauling her 5-year-old son.

Her weapon: a metal water bottle.

The attack occurred Sept. 2 on the Silver Creek portion of the hiking trail to Abercrombie Mountain, northwest of Metaline Falls.

The family, visiting from Rossland, B.C., had spread out a bit. The father and daughter were ahead followed by the mother and the son, who was lagging less than 20 yards behind her, according to Washington Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement supervisor Mike Whorton.

The cougar sprang out of the only patch of cover along that stretch of trail, investigating officers reported.

“The mother was just picking up the water bottle her husband had left on the trail for her when she saw her son go to the ground out of the corner of her eye,” Whorton said.

“She immediately ran over and began hitting the cougar with the stainless steel bottle. She was there so fast the cougar didn’t have a chance to get a death grip on the boy’s neck. The claw marks on his chest indicated the cougar was still trying to turn him into position to get a good hold.”

The mother beat the cat – estimated at 80 pounds – hard enough to make it release the boy. But the cougar retreated only a few feet and looked back.

The mother threw the water bottle.

There was no radar to record the speed or umpire to call the accuracy, but she had enough stuff on that bottle to persuade the cougar to sprint downhill and disappear into the timber.

Steeee-rike!

The boy is healing with no complications from the teeth and claw marks to his head and chest, the family told Whorton.

A hunter with hounds had no luck in tracking down the offending cougar last weekend.

Fish and Wildlife officials issued the hunter a three-day kill permit.

“That’s basically all we can do,” Whorton said. “At this point, if we found a cougar in the area we’d have no cause to believe it’s the cat that took down the child.”

The incident emphasizes a precaution wildlife experts preach to families heading into cougar or wolf country.

Kids should be kept close and between adults as much as possible. Cougars and wolves in particular are known to key in on the smallest and most vulnerable prey in a flock, and that means children.

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A 5-year-old boy from Rossland, B.C., was attacked by a cougar Wednesday while he and his family were hiking a trail in Stevens County.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers said the attack occurred while the boy and his family were hiking on the Abercrombie Mountain trail along Silver Creek in the Colville National Forest.

The boy’s parents told wildlife officers that the boy was treated for head wounds at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail, B.C. He was expected to recover completely, they said.

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Sinkhole opens up, traps person on Seattle waterfront

 

 

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A man was rescued Thursday morning by firefighters after he tumbled into a 10-foot-deep hole that opened up in the sidewalk along Seattle’s downtown waterfront, one of the city’s most popular promenades and tourist attractions.The 60-year-old man reported minor back pain and was taken to Harborview Medical Center to be examined, Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said.

The sidewalk, atop the deteriorating sea wall that separates Alaskan Way from Elliott Bay, is at the southern end of a walkway strolled by thousands of people daily. City officials have long urged that the sea wall be fixed, and a new wall is planned as part of a $4.2 billion project to replace the Alaskan Way viaduct with a tunnel by 2015.

The hole, about 2 to 4 feet wide and 7 feet long, opened up without warning about 8 a.m. at a small park at the foot of South Washington Street in the city’s historic Pioneer Square neighborhood. The park is just south of the Washington State Ferries terminal that links downtown Seattle with the west side of Puget Sound.

In the mid-19th century, the land beneath the sidewalk was mud flats and near a sawmill at the foot of Skid Road, the one-time path where logs were skidded downhill and that later became a generic term for down-and-out neighborhoods.

Vander Houwen said 26 firefighters worked to rescue the man, blocking heavily used Alaskan Way during the morning rush hour.

There was a hollow space beneath where the 4-inch-thick sidewalk gave way, she said. “He was trapped by some of his clothing and backpack.”

The man cut off a sleeve that was snagged in the hole as firefighters drilled bolts into nearby concrete, fastened ropes to the bolts and lowered pieces of wood and inflatable air bags to stabilize the soil.

Ladders were extended across the opening, and the man was placed into a harness and pulled to the surface after about an hour, Vander Houwen said.

The walkway will remain closed to pedestrians until it can be further examined, she said.

In late 2005, Mayor Greg Nickels said small marine creatures were boring through the sea wall so rapidly that city divers had to increase the frequency of inspections of the wood and steel structure to twice a year.

Another sub-par review because someone thinks we are wrong about the information in LETHAL. When actually, we are right.

Earthquakes are a real threat in Washington State, the most recent occurrence being in 1996. The potential for more happening in the future is there, because of existing, known fault lines.

Tornadoes are often also real threat in Washington State.  In 1972, Washington lead the country in tornado deaths. And in 1997, 6 tornadoes touched down in Washington state in a single day.

 April 5, 1972 – Washington’s Deadliest Tornado Outbreak

* An F3 tornado touched down in Vancouver

* 6 deaths and 300 injured, Washington led nation in tornado deaths that year

* Tornado swept through a grocery store, bowling alley, and grade school near where Vancouver Mall is today

* 50 million dollars in damage

* Later that day, another F3 tornado touched down west of Spokane

* And an F2 tornado struck rural Stevens county

* Numerous severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds were reported over other areas of eastern Washington 

As for the Great White Shark in the woods, it’s likely the user is in a coastal forest, and when in a coastal area, we list the dangers that the oceans represent, as a general rule.

It’s frustrating that our app consistently gets bad reviews for having information that is accurate, but unexpected or against “common wisdom.” Oh well.

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Cougar refuses to run, killed by officers

 

By K.C. Mehaffey
World staff writer 
Posted May 13, 2009

BRIDGEPORT — State Department of Fish and Wildlife officers shot and killed an adult male cougar on the outskirts of Bridgeport on Tuesday afternoon.

It was crouching in what authorities called an attack position, about 20 feet from the officers.

“I felt absolutely horrible about the outcome, because it wasn’t what we wanted to do,” Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Jim Brown said this morning.

A resident in the 200 block of Fourth Street called Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies at about 4:15 p.m. to report a cougar in a tree outside his father’s home, said Undersheriff Don Culp. Deputies responded, along with Fish and Wildlife officers, to find the big cat in a tall poplar tree.

Brown said they were planning to tranquilize the mountain lion and relocate it. But because it was in a poplar tree, there was no way for officers to climb up and retrieve the tranquilized animal, since there were no low branches. If it fell, it may have been seriously injured on fence posts below the tree, he said.

Brown said officers instead used firecracker shot and then bird shot to scare him from the tree, but instead of running away, he fled to a nearby bush.

When Brown located him, he was crouched and ready to pounce, so Brown shot and killed him, he said.

“I know that posture from my experience and training. I had to make a decision right then, and that was the decision I made,” he said.

A crowd of people had gathered, and although they were not close to the cougar, officers would not have been able to shoot him if he ran toward them.

“I don’t know why it did what it did,” Brown added. “We had brought the transport trailer and had everything there to relocate it, but we just couldn’t practically do that.”

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Dog that mauled Finley boy killed by handlers

BY DREW FOSTER, HERALD STAFF WRITER

Published: 05/06/09   1:32 am   |   Updated: 05/06/09   3:52 pm

A dog that mauled a 9-year-old boy in Finley was killed by its handlers after they were told by local law enforcement to quarantine the animal for 10 days so it could be monitored for rabies.

Bruce Perkins, director of the Benton-Franklin Health District’s environmental health department, said Tuesday that definitive rabies tests could not be performed after the dog was killed.

“Somebody did put down the animal,” he said. “Rumor has it, they shot it in the head, and the head is the part sent in for testing.”

Shanda Reed, the boy’s mother, said officials with the Benton-Franklin Health District told her the dog had received prior rabies vaccinations and left the decision to have her son receive rabies treatment up to her. She said she doesn’t plan for him to have the treatments.

The owner of the dog, who was in jail on unrelated charges when his animal attacked the boy, will not face criminal charges, said Lt. Brian White of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. White said there are no leash laws in unincorporated areas of Benton County, adding that dog attacks are treated as civil matters, not criminal.

Reed does not plan to sue the dog’s owner.

Reed said her son, Triston Jett, required 20 stitches to close wounds on his face. She said he is recovering well.

The boy, who was attacked while walking home from a friend’s house, was treated at Kennewick General Hospital and released later Friday night.

Reed said the dog, a medium-sized border collie mix, had a violent past.

“It’s got a rap sheet,” she said, adding that it once threatened her son and her son’s father as the two walked near property it was living on.

She also said the dog once bit a neighbor’s child, but White said the sheriff’s office had never received a complaint about the dog before Friday’s attack.

He said animals that attack people or livestock must be declared potentially dangerous or dangerous for their owners to obtain permits to keep them. At the end of 2008, 55 dogs were permitted as potentially dangerous in Benton County, while four were permitted as dangerous.

Potentially dangerous and dangerous dogs must be kept on a leash, behind a fence or in a kennel, even if they live in an unincorporated area unaffected by leash laws, White said.

The dog that attacked Triston was not designated as potentially dangerous or dangerous before Friday. After the attack, the county did designate the animal as dangerous.

Potentially dangerous dogs that escape their enclosure or attack a person or livestock are automatically deemed dangerous, White said. Dangerous dogs that escape or attack may face an increased chance of being euthanized, but White said laws regarding dangerous animals are ambiguous.

“We might end up making a change to that policy,” White said.

Most of the time, the decision to euthanize a dangerous animal is left to the owner, he said.

“If the dog is a menace to people and it’s been attacking people, normally the owners don’t want to keep it,” he said.

Most dog attacks in unincorporated areas of the county resulting in anything short of serious injury or death aren’t treated as criminal matters. A person using a dog as a weapon would face criminal charges, White said, and someone who allows a knowingly dangerous dog to run free could face a $500 ticket for a civil offense.

“I think both us and the (county) commissioners have looked into this whole deal because of the problems we’ve had with strays,” White said. “Dog bites aren’t common, but we probably have one a month. Most aren’t this severe.”

Reed plans to move her family from Finley soon, but before she does, she said she’d like to lobby the county to adopt some sort of leash law.

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Sinkhole closes Gastonia road to through traffic

April 27, 2009 – 6:48 PM

Kevin Ellis

A sinkhole has required the emergency closure of Washington Street to all traffic between Franklin Boulevard and Overman Avenue, the city of Gastonia reported Monday.

The street, located west of U.S. 321, will remain closed until the cause of the sinkhole is determined and a plan to repair is developed and executed, according to a city release.

The majority of the traffic utilizing Washington Street is local traffic; therefore, no signed detour will be implemented at this time.  Access to adjacent properties will be available.

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Lifeguards say 911 is best help you can offer to rip current victims

By Sallie James | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

POMPANO BEACH – Lifeguards are warning beachgoers to call 911 if they spot a swimmer in trouble after a weekend in which two people died and more than a dozen were rescued from dangerous surf off Broward and Palm Beach counties.

“If somebody does notice someone in trouble, they should call 911 instead of putting themselves in danger,” said Pompano Beach lifeguard Capt. Wade Rickerson.

Dangerous rip currents are expected to continue off the coast all week, barring a change in wind.

Today’s conditions again were favorable for rip currents, with almost no lateral currents and winds blowing onshore from the east at about 15 mph, Rickerson said.

The combination creates a condition that causes rip currents. A break in a sandbar under the water makes a channel that carries the water out to sea more rapidly and forcefully.

The key to surviving is swimming parallel to the shore until outside the current. Then, swimming back to shore or yelling for help.

On Saturday in Pompano Beach, a 73-year-old man died of a heart attack after saving two boys from strong currents that were pulling them out to sea. On Sunday in Palm Beach, a 24-year-old Cape Coral man died, overcome by the powerful currents.

“People have to be careful. If conditions are rougher than you are qualified to swim in, you shouldn’t go in,” Rickerson said.

Charles Schultze, a Washington, D.C., lawyer with a vacation home in Pompano Beach, collapsed and died on the beach Saturday after first bringing a struggling 12-year-old to shore, then going back out to rescue his 9-year-old brother, who was at least 40 yards offshore.

According to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office, Schultze died of a heart attack.

Sunday afternoon, Palm Beach officers responded to a report of a possible drowning at Peruvian Avenue and arrived to find the body of Kyle Dishman 24, of Cape Coral, in the water some 200 yards from shore.

Dishman was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital a short time later. His friends told police they went swimming about 4:30 p.m. and were in the water 15 to 20 minutes when they realized it was too rough.

As they tried to swim in, rip currents pulled them out, and they were unable to reach Dishman.

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Such an amazing act of bravery. He was 70 years old! What a gift he’s given the two young boys.

Man Dies After Saving Two Boys From Near Drowning

POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) ―

When a 70-year-old Washington, D.C. man saw two boys in distress after getting caught in a rip current, Charles Schulze wasted no time swimming to them so that they would be safely reunited with their mother, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office. 

But as he neared the shore on Saturday afternoon, officials say, he ran into trouble and eventually died. 

His girlfriend, Helen Smith, yelled for help and two bystanders pulled him out of the water on the 1200 block of South Ocean Boulevard. Schulze was taken to Holy Cross Hospital were he was pronounced dead. 

It’s unclear exactly whether Schulze had a medical problem in the water, became exhausted during the rescue or if he got caught in a powerful rip current. Detectives are continuing to investigate. Schulze and Smith own a condominium in the area and are regular visitors to South Florida.

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I kind of hope it just disappears back into the wild.

Push to save young cougar grows
By KYLE ODEGARD
For the Democrat-HeraldBut can the mountain lion be saved?

CORVALLIS – A groundswell of support is forming to save the life of the young cougar that has been roaming northwest Corvallis. Thursday, a wildlife sanctuary offered to take the mountain lion, if it can be trapped by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We would be happy to provide it a lifetime home,” said Cheryl Tuller, executive director of WildCat Haven of Sherwood in Washington County.

The cougar has been spotted at least seven times in two weeks, and ODFW biologists have said it poses a potential danger to humans because it doesn’t appear to be afraid of people. Wild cougars usually avoid all contact with humans.

The mountain lion, which is estimated to weigh 50 pounds, was photographed twice at the edge of back yards. Last Friday, it attacked a house cat about 300 yards from Wilson School. The pet survived, however, and is expected to recover.

ODFW officials have said that if the cougar is trapped, it will be examined by a veterinarian to try to determine its history. But then the mountain lion likely would be killed.

The agency has a policy against relocating problem animals, partly because they’ll likely cause problems elsewhere, but also for disease control and to avert conflicts that relocating the cougar could cause with existing wildlife at the new locale.

But WildCat Haven is offering to relocate the animal not to a different patch of woods, but to its own shelter. The non-profit has 45 big cats such as lynx, bobcats and 11 cougars — all born in captivity. (See www.wildcathaven.org/).

Tuller said there’s a convincing argument to be made, based on behavior, that the cougar once was someone’s pet.

Brooks Fahy, the executive director of Predator Defense, a Eugene-based wildlife advocacy group, said the animal probably is wild but is exhibiting foolish behavior as part of a growing phase.

“They’re like teenagers. They’re curious. This is not an extraordinary event,” said Fahy, who has worked as a veterinary technician specializing in wildlife rehabilitation.

“Everybody just back off; be cautious,” Fahy said. “Nobody has been threatened. The fact you are seeing an animal is no reason to go out and kill it.” He said setting up a trap which will likely result in the animal’s death was “overkill.”

“This is a situation that has been so blown out of proportion that it’s mind-boggling,” he added.

Brian Wolfer, an ODFW wildlife biologist, said there could be opportunities to place the cougar with an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited organization.

“I don’t think, at this point, that we’re willing to paint ourselves into a corner and say there are no other alternatives,” Wolfer said. He added that if a wild animal is placed in captivity, problems can arise with health because the animal wants to be free.

“It’s not an easy, ‘I’m going to put this thing in a cage and it’s going to like it there,’” Wolfer said.

WildCat Haven is accredited by the American Sanctuary Association. Wolfer said he didn’t know enough about that group, but he said ODFW was very comfortable working with Association of Zoos and Aquariums facilities.

Even some residents of neighborhoods the cougar has prowled through want to save the animal.

McKenna Drayse, a Lane Community College student who lived in Corvallis for four years, has created a Facebook page to save the cougar. She said she’s hoping it can be placed in a zoo or refuge.

“There should be more people standing up and saying, ‘We shouldn’t kill everything we don’t want around us,’” she said. “I’m worried about the future. This is going to keep happening, and is this going to be the resort that we come to?”