In a contest of man against beast, a 61-year-old man pulled out his trusty pocketknife to slay a cougar and save his own life.
Dave Parker killed the cougar by stabbing it in the neck, then walked one kilometre to get help for the wounds he suffered during a bloody fight with the animal.
The resident of Port Alice in northern Vancouver Island underwent plastic surgery yesterday after his tussle with the cougar on Thursday night near his hometown.
Mr. Parker, a retired pulp-mill worker, was hiking alone when the cougar attacked him along a gravel road through the woods, said district conservation officer Ken Fujino. "There was a scuffle and the gentleman killed it with his folding pocketknife."
Fortunately, Mr. Parker managed to make it to a log-sorting plant, where workers called an ambulance to take him to the local hospital. After Port Alice doctors treated his injuries, he was driven 45 kilometres by ambulance to Port Hardy and flown to a Victoria hospital for specialized surgery.
Port Alice RCMP Corporal Jeff Flindall took photographs of the site where Mr. Parker clashed with the 40-kilogram cougar using his knife with a blade about nine centimetres long. "There was a lot of blood on the road."
Mr. Parker's wife and family members have arrived in Victoria to be with him as he recovers from surgery, said Cathy Dargie, a spokeswoman for the Royal Jubilee Hospital. He was in critical but stable condition yesterday in the hospital's intensive-care unit.
An autopsy will be performed on the adult male cougar in hopes of getting clues as to why it would have pounced on a human. It was thin, but far from starving, Mr. Fujino said.
Port Alice Mayor Larry Pepper said residents should be cautious about the presence of cougars, but there is no need to panic and worry about when the next mauling may occur.
He suggested that residents keep track of their cats and dogs, since cougars have been known to eat stray pets in the region.
"We went for years and years here without hardly even a sighting. And now pretty well everybody has seen one," Mr. Pepper said. "We're surrounded by forests. We're going to have bears and we're going to have cougars. Everybody just has to be aware of it. We don't want people carrying guns."
While Thursday's attack marks the third incident in the past 18 months in the region, conservation officers consider it to be a relatively rare occurrence because cougars tend to stay away from humans.
In June, an eight-year-old girl from Reno, Nev., survived bite wounds after being dragged briefly by a cougar on Compton Island. In February last year, a 52-year-old Seattle man cycling near Port Alice survived puncture wounds to his arms and mild lacerations to his face. In January of 2001, 30-year-old Fraces Frost was killed by a cougar while skiing outside Banff, Alta.
Attack tips The potential for being attacked by a cougar is very low. Usually, cougars are calm, quiet and elusive. Knowing what to do if you encounter a cougar can reduce your chance of injury. Here are some tips: Do not hike alone: Go in groups, with adults supervising children. Keep children close: If you encounter a cougar, pick children off the ground. Children are easily frightened and their movements may provoke an attack. Do not approach a cougar: Most cougars will try to avoid a confrontation. Always give the animal a way to escape. Do not run from a cougar: Running may stimulate a cougar's natural instinct to chase. Stand and face the cat and make eye contact. Do not crouch down or bend over: When people squat or bend over they can resemble a four-legged prey animal. Source: Web sites of The Eastern Cougar Foundation and the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.
Brent Jang