Bear Saves Robert Biggs From Mountain Lion Attack In California

When Robert Biggs finished gazing at a cute, cuddly family of black bears and turned to continue on his day-hike in northern California on Monday, he thought he was safe.

The 69-year-old man from the town of Paradise was anything but.

He'd been watching a mother bear, her yearling and a newborn from about 40 feet away, but he had no idea that he was being stalked by a ferocious mountain lion. As he turned to leave, the cat pounced on his backpack with all four paws.

See the photo below

"He grabbed me from behind and knocked me to the ground," Biggs told The Huffington Post. "I was on my knees. I had my rock pick out because i was on a steep incline, and I smashed the cat in the head with it. He screamed, but he didn't let go."

His backpack and rock pick were the only things standing between him and certain death, Biggs said. He raised his weapon again for another swing at the hulking feline.

"That's when a blur on my left side grabbed the lion by its throat -- turns out it was the momma bear," he said. "I heard a tremendous screeching, some growling noises."

Biggs said that the bear ripped the cat's grip from his backpack, and the two titans clashed for another 15 seconds. The bear won the battle, probably because it "outweighed the cat 400 pounds to 100 pounds." The cat ran away, and the bear went back down on all fours, humbly making eye contact with Biggs before regrouping with her young.

Biggs -- who had been hiking the same two-mile trail in the Bean Soup Flat area for years -- left with a few scratches and bruises on his arm. Being a mountain man, he refused his wife's pleas that he go to the hospital, and instead put some peroxide on his wounds.

He told The Huffington Post that he owes everything to that bear.

"I'm 100-percent sure it did want to save my life," he said. "We made eye contact. I'd seen the bears before and I know she knew who I was."

Credit: Trevor Warner, Paradise Post

Mountain lion attacks in California are reportedly rare. There were only 14 verified attacks on humans between 1890 and 2007, according to the California Department of Fish and Game's website.

Check out these other animals in the news:

From our partners

• 6 People Saved By Their Enemies - www.cracked.com
• 25 Crazy Celebrity Workouts And Diets - Guyism.com
• Experts: Decriminalize ALL Drugs! - Newser.com

Comments

[Edgar101]

08:00 AM on 01/05/2013

I believe. Great story and experience to tell grand kids over and over again. I can hear those kids now growing up to be adults telling this story to their children. Pretty cool.

[zjin]

12:37 PM on 04/04/2012

I bet he witnessed a momma bear defending its young from a mountain lion, from afar, and then decided to include himself into the story. He probably so wants to be a baby bear again.

[Mike in San Pedro]

12:41 AM on 04/04/2012

See what happens when you pack steaks in your backpack.

[Mike in San Pedro]

12:32 AM on 04/04/2012

This just in: Biggs attacked by staff at psychiatric facility. Rescued by alien ninjas from Area 51.

[Nneka Ugochukwu]

08:04 PM on 04/03/2012

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE. What a bunch of hulabaloo.

[Shay11]

03:03 PM on 04/03/2012

So who feels like the bigger tool? The old man for creating this wildly elaborate story, or all of the national media outlets for picking it up w/out waiting for proper confirmation and testing? Wow. Here is the new story after this guy's claims prompted an investigation from Fish & Game.

http://www.paradisepost.com/breakingnews/ci_20316090/no-lion-bear-blood-found-biggs-backpack

[Mike in San Pedro]

12:23 AM on 04/04/2012

Good post. Thanks for the link. Maybe next week Biggs will be abducted by aliens.

[freedom1947]

10:38 AM on 04/03/2012

So next time you see Yogi, give up your picky- nic basket.

[GrimReverb]

09:20 PM on 04/02/2012

Nice story but I'm rather skeptical.

[Anne Marie313]

12:00 PM on 04/08/2012

yes, it would be cool if it really is the truth but I am more inclined to respond with "cool Story Bro".

[Noble9]

01:51 PM on 04/02/2012

I usually tell my wife something similar when I come late with scratches all over me...

[sassylaroo]

01:34 PM on 06/24/2012

Ha! Because adultery is hilarious :P

[Aquatic]

01:00 PM on 04/02/2012

Biggs misunderstands: that bear was protecting her cubs when she got rid of the mountain lion. It had nothing to do with him.

[Spoiledtiel]

01:46 PM on 04/02/2012

Maybe maybe not - if that was the only reason why didn't she go afer him afterwards? I'm sure the cubs played a role in momma bears involvement but I think it was something else too,

[Arlene La Hera]

07:27 PM on 04/02/2012

I agree.

[think-it-over]

12:18 AM on 04/03/2012

Any bear with sense would consider the mountain lion a threat to her cubs. As long as a person isn't between her and the cubs or particularly close, a bear isn't especially likely to view a person as a threat. It's possible that the bear recognized Biggs and that played a role in her assessment of the risk he might pose, but it's wildly unlikely that she attacked the mountain lion to save Biggs.

[Lindsgrace33]

11:50 AM on 04/02/2012

Amazing story.

[billybuttlooker]

11:04 AM on 04/02/2012

was it Smokey or Yogi

[Jonathan D]

10:51 AM on 04/02/2012

So, his only injuries were a few scratches, there's only been 2 adult men who have been killed by mountain lions in the history of the United States, and yet the bear saved him from "certain death"? Perhaps the bear, if it really existed, actually only saved him from "somewhat more scratches".

[IrieMoon]

12:49 PM on 04/02/2012

There's only been 2 adult men who have been killed by mountain lions in the history of the United States....and this man could have been the 3rd.

Even if there were only 2 in the past doesn't mean it will never happen again.

[Hoopster11]

06:15 PM on 04/02/2012

2 deaths in California

[Spoiledtiel]

01:47 PM on 04/02/2012

It says in the article the cat jumped on his back with a backpack inbetween. That probably played a role in him not being more seriously injured.

[curlywurly]

10:13 AM on 04/02/2012

Wow! Great reporting - only you forgot to mention that Biggs has twice before reported Mountain Lion attacks on himself - which, if true, gives him the world record - and if not true.....

[Spoiledtiel]

01:48 PM on 04/02/2012

Where did you get that? And it may very well be true if he lives where they are common and goes on that trail all the time

[curlywurly]

02:34 PM on 04/02/2012

For an actual news report, where someone actually checked on the story, please see:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/31/SPGO1NSU3S.DTL

[kwyatt42]

08:02 PM on 04/03/2012

are you that naive or just plain stupid? step outside of starbucks into the wilderness sometime and it might just occur to you that cougar attacks are extremely few and far between (unless you're in a bar - which might also account for his scratches). it strikes me as absurd that you would rather believe this liar has been attacked three times than just admit that sometimes people make stuff up to get attention and not drown in their own monotony. furthermore, the personification that he gave this bear as they made eye contact is ludicrous. a momma bear isn't going to risk the safety of her cubs or her own to save a person...doesn't happen. not going to happen. wild animals don't adhere to fairy tales.

[NotSoFastSteph]

06:21 PM on 04/02/2012

Maybe the bear that saved him was the one that he claimed he played "patty cake" with. NOW do you believe?

[Shep11]

06:03 AM on 04/03/2012

can't help think of Roger Rabbit when I hear patty cake now

[Canefighter]

09:34 AM on 04/02/2012

All the Black Bear was doing is protecting her cubs from the Cat, nothing more or less. Just a parents instinct. Only reason the man lived is the bears where not hungry or endangered by him. Remember, it is a wild animal.

[IrieMoon]

12:50 PM on 04/02/2012

If the mother bear was only protecting her cubs she would have let the lion have the man.

A mountain lion with a full belly is no threat to her cubs, so allowing the lion to eat the human would have been "protecting her cubs".

[think-it-over]

12:22 AM on 04/03/2012

And since people aren't a significant threat to cubs bears never, ever, attack people.