What would you do if you suddenly spotted a growling mountain lion about eight feet away in the dark?
Andy Bell said he was only about 100 feet from his Walker home when that happened to him Sunday night while he was turning off his outdoor water supply, so he decided to bolt for his front door.
Unfortunately, his running triggered the catamount's predatory attack response.
"It was on my back and took me down to the ground," Bell told The Daily Courier Wednesday while in Prescott for doctor visits and rabies shots.
With the lion on his back, Bell said he slid about six feet down his gravel driveway and ended up directly under the back of his truck.
Luckily, he barely cleared the truck hitch but the lion's head rammed into it, peeling the lion right off his back.
"If I would have hit that hitch, he would have had a free dinner," Bell said.
The stunned lion ran off and Bell ran into his house. He came back out with a gun but the lion was gone.
He had just experienced the most terrifying moment of his life.
"I've had close calls before in car accidents, but this is a completely different game," Bell said. "I have a whole new respect for nature and its power."
Bell is a hunter and he knows he shouldn't run from lions, but when he heard that lion growl he felt like his best chance was to run for the house because it was so close and he was unarmed.
"Put yourself in those shoes and see what you would have done," Bell said.
While Bell suffered only a scratch from the lion, the six-foot slide in the gravel injured him significantly.
He has large gouges in the palms of his hands and injured his left elbow and right knee. He's getting tests to determine the extent of the injuries. On Wednesday he had to get rabies shots.
He hasn't been able to do much work at his RMS Fleet Service diesel repair shop in Prescott.
Bell said his dog has gone into barking fits about the same time almost every night since Saturday, and the dog refused to go outside with him Sunday night when the cat attacked, even though the dog always wanted to join him in the past.
Then Tuesday night, his neighbor reported seeing the lion after it set off his outdoor motion-sensor light. The neighbor lives about 150 yards away in Walker, a small forested community a few miles southeast of Prescott.
Like Bell, the neighbor got his gun and went back outside, but the cougar was gone.
"I was up all night just knowing it was out there," Bell said.
Bell and his girlfriend are staying armed when they go outdoors, and Bell would love to get a shot at the lion. But he knows it's not an easy job to track a cougar, especially when he's limping.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services trackers plan to try a second time today to track the lion, said Zen Mocarski of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Their dogs were unable to pick up a scent Tuesday. Wildlife officials have not been able to identify any lion tracks in the area, either.
Despite what he has been through, Bell still loves nature and worries that his experience will scare off visitors to Prescott. So he is urging people not to fear the forest because of what happened to him.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, June 13, 2010
Article comment by:
Tom Camper
Colorado Guy I think that many people get mad/sad that every time there is a human animal conflict the animal dies. Here in Florida it is the alligators. People buy houses on the water near a swamp and then demand that the alligators be removed. A alligator merely sunning itself is a threat and then is killed. I met a man bragging about killing a grizzly bear in his back yard that had done nothing. 7,000,000,000 people not many grizzly bears.
Posted: Friday, June 11, 2010
Article comment by:
Colorado Guy
I live in a very rural area of Western Colorado where there is an abundance of mountain lions. Judging by the reaction of some readers to Andy's comment about wanting to get a shot at the lion that attacked him, I'd suggest to Andy that, if it ever happens again or if he gets a shot at it, he not talk about it, particularly in the newspaper. It just freaks out some people to hear that you might want to kill something that attacks you. My neighbor was stalked at very close range by a lion as he backed about 150 feet to his Jeep (making himself look as big as possible, which is one technique to keep the lion away) where his dog was already waiting for him. The dog was attacked and escaped before the lion turned to my neighbor. That same lion went after my neighbor's brother a few days later. The game warden then looked for the lion and would have shot it if he had found it, and gave my neighbor permission to do the same if he saw it again. Lions need to have fear of us, as we do of them. In many cases, a lion that attacks in that manner has something wrong with it and has lost that natural fear. A lion without fear of humans can be a danger to kids and adults, not to mention pets, until it is killed or moves to a more remote area. I've had lions at very close range at my house and they've always quietly left when they saw me. They had the proper natural fear. But, if I was armed and one attacked or was very seriously threatening, I wouldn't be thinking about how they were here first.
Posted: Friday, June 11, 2010
Article comment by:
gramagrunt Donohue
Yep, the same old story. Animal attacks human, human wants to kill animal. How sad. Yet human kills human, and I never read a remark like that. Guess that's alright. At least I don't have to worry about a mountain lion or any other animal breaking into MY house and killing me in my sleep. If I am going to live near wild animals, I would suffer the consequences. I don't feel sorry for "Andy" in the least.
Posted: Friday, June 11, 2010
Article comment by:
Ron R. Harvey
In response to Same Story Different Outcome: your post really made me laugh! So many of the comments in the Courier are full of venom and anger, it is a relief to see a friendly posting such as yours. I agree with you, and in that position I honestly can't say what I would have done. Several months ago I was charged by a javelina as I was taking out my garbage and completely locked up. Thankfully it charged past me snorting and grunting violently, but I honestly didn't have a second to think, and I just froze. Ever since then, night-time trips to the front yard have me on high alert. When I was a kid, it was imaginary monsters in the bushes that freaked me out, but living on the edge of a forest reminds me that there are some truly nasty beasts out there in the dark. At least I haven't found any in my closet. Yet.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
Tom camper
I remember camping alone on a mountaintop with a bear sniffing around the tent. Fortunately after a few minutes it left and I went back to sleep.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
Far Out
I love the part where the cat hits the trailer hitch. Reminds me of a scene in a cartoon. Watch out for that.....HITCH. Nice job Andy!
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
I love nature. I am not an avid hunter but I support it for providence not for sport.
I am glad that Andy was not injured.
Bottom line is this. The animals were here first however unfortunately for them we are at the top of the food chain. We have moved into their territory and we should respect them and admire them.
BUT if they attack us especially at our homes then we must defend ourselves.
No reader can say they would have the peace of mind to carefully back away from a cougar and not give in to temptation to run until faced with that scenario.
Can you honestly say that if a cougar attacked you on your property you would'nt feel some sort of vengence? Knowing full well it's quite possible it might happen again?
He has a dog maybe even kids...this could of been a lot worse.
Keep "Betsy" secure, locked-loaded and ready or sprinkle the "cat-away"...
I'd choose "Betsy"...
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
Do Some Research
@Nature: If you would do some research you would find that most lion attacks are related to a sick animal that needs to be put down to save them from infecting and killing more animals. Also you should do some research into sport hunting we put more money and work into nature conservation than you will in a lifetime. Hunting is a natural part of the cycle of life and helps to actually conserve our natural habitats when correctly controlled, but thank you very much for you uneducated opinion.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
I Agree
I completely agree with Natures statement
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
@Nature lover Not Hunter...
I second your opinions, and I must sympathize with Mr. Bell's traumatic experience. Yet I like Bell's very telling quote, "I have a whole new respect for nature and its power." Perhaps dat dere's the disconnect that you've been missing killing other living species for sport.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
Nature lover Not Hunter Yes none
Really now? Quoting Andy Bell, "would love to get a shot at the lion". Are you freakin kidding me. I swear people who move into area's where there are Bobcats, Mountain Lions, Bears, Coyotes, Foxes, etc... All can think of is how no wild animals should be there and let's shoot them. Let me think on that one....nope not going there. I'm glad Mr. Bell wasn't seriously injured but for him to say he still love Nature then spin and say He'd love to kill it. Makes no sense to me.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
K S
Loved the last sentence, "same story"! Thanks for the laughs. I have all kinds of mental pictures going on! Don't know if you're male or female, but either way, you made my day.
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
The Devil Guy
This reads like a post WWII Warner Bros cartoon...
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Article comment by:
Same Story Different outcome
I was sitting in my house, when I looked out my window and caught a view of a "kitty". When I starting walking down my driveway, I saw this mountain lion next to my garage door. It was a little bigger than a big dog, I froze in horror. It turned towards me and slowly started coming towards me one step at a time. I come from a long line of cowards, I turned and ran - the only difference from Andy is I screamed like a little girl. I feel that must have scared the damn thing off. I am 225 lbs and i didn't know I could run so fast or scream so high pitched and loudly. All my friends ask was it beautiful? Well beauty was the last thought in my mind, it was 80lbs of teeth and claws, these animals are no joke, I don't wish it any harm, I just wish it would stay away. I guess I will start carrying a trailer hitch with me when I go outside.
