California officials: Man's claim bear saved him from lion attack not substantiated

California wildlife officials are casting doubt on a man’s claim that he was saved from a mountain lion attack when a bear pulled the big cat off him, according to a local newspaper.

Robert Biggs, 69, of the northern California town of Paradise, says a mountain lion jumped on his back and knocked him over on Monday while he was walking on trails, a story that's been reported by many media outlets.

“I had a rock in my right hand, and I come around and swing and hit him in the side of the head, and it made a big screeching sound. And I come back to swing again, and I come around, and just about half way there, I see this dark figure grabbing the neck of the mountain lion and tearing it down [to] the ground behind me,” Biggs told Fox40.com, noting the dark figure was a “mama bear.”

But Department of Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy told the Paradise Post: "We did interview Mr. Biggs and we are unable to substantiate a lion attack."

Harry Morse, another department spokesman, said they had no plans to pursue the alleged mountain lion and that a warden determined Biggs’ injury was not consistent with such an attack, the Paradise Post reported. But officials will test DNA from blood found on a backpack to see if it did belong to a mountain lion, Foy said.

Biggs got a few scratches in the alleged encounter.

“I’m sure the bear was trying to save me because the way it was looking at me just two minutes before I was standing there watching her, and she was looking at me like we were old friends,” he told Fox40.com.

Foy said it was not likely a bear would be so friendly with a man. There have only been 16 verified mountain lion attacks from 1890 to 2007, none of which were in Butte County, in which Paradise is located.

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I have had this happen to me in Skyrim!

  • 28 votes
#1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:11 AM EDT

I used to get similar attacks years ago when coming out of my favorite bar so it must be true!!!!

  • 23 votes
#1.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:18 AM EDT

I've gotten giants to fight a dragon by having the dragon piss them off by hitting their mammoths! Bait and switch FTW!

  • 12 votes
#1.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:27 AM EDT

and this all happened shortly after having eaten those flowers from off that cactus... I think they call it peyote or something like that. LOL

  • 9 votes
#1.3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:57 AM EDT

Cub T. I've been in bars where I was attacked like that too. Only it wasn't a mountain lion, it was a cougar.

  • 40 votes
#1.4 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:12 PM EDT

Doubt it.

    #1.5 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:22 PM EDT

    I used to be an adventurer like him... then I took an arrow to the knee.

    • 15 votes
    #1.6 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:23 PM EDT

    I think msnbc.com staff are the ones that got mauled by a lyin'.

    • 29 votes
    #1.7 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:24 PM EDT

    .... and then this eagle picked up a porcupine and flew it over to me. the porcupine used it's needles to stich up my wound......

    Mr. Biggs, is that payote in your pocket?

    • 9 votes
    #1.8 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:26 PM EDT

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Lmkm5EF5E

    • 1 vote
    #1.9 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:29 PM EDT

    Who knows it could have happened like he said ......

    • 13 votes
    #1.10 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:34 PM EDT

    # 1. If the bear was saving him, I figure mama bear was saving him for her afternoon snack. Though in the 2nd. scenario, It's more likely that Robert got some really good mushrooms while hiking. 3rd. scenario,and I hope I am wrong: early stages of demencia. SORRY.

    • 6 votes
    #1.11 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:34 PM EDT

    Bear was sizing him up as lunch!?

    • 4 votes
    #1.12 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:46 PM EDT

    I was attacked, once, by my 15 pound cat...does that count!???? :-)

    • 8 votes
    #1.13 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:48 PM EDT

    I got you all beat. 2 years ago i was attacked by a giant Lesbian and the a naked dwarf lady fought off the giant lesbian . It was awesome.

    • 10 votes
    #1.14 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:52 PM EDT

    It could happen. I took my tin-foil hat off for a minute to comb my hair, and aliens grabbed me. Don't believe them when they tell you they are going to use that finger to "phone home".

    • 16 votes
    #1.15 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:55 PM EDT

    Can't bear to think this man might be lyin'. ;)

    • 17 votes
    #1.16 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:57 PM EDT

    I believed him...................til he said he was only following the bear because it was wearing a hoodie....................ooops wrong story...........carry on.

    • 24 votes
    #1.17 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:10 PM EDT
    Comment author avatarBlake-1028482Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

    You are an idiot!

    • 1 vote
    #1.18 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:16 PM EDT

    Sounds like this guy may have stumbled into some growers patch while he was out hiking and decided to sample a little too much of the product.

    • 4 votes
    #1.19 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:29 PM EDT

    69 years-old. Have you no shame?

    • 3 votes
    #1.20 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:46 PM EDT

    Probably a mama bear just out of hibernation with cubs who saw the lion and attacked it. The man was incidental.

    • 7 votes
    #1.21 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:53 PM EDT

    ConservativeNotRepublican-Cub T. I've been in bars where I was attacked like that too. Only it wasn't a mountain lion, it was a cougar.

    I had a similar encounter by I didn't get knocked; off I got beat off. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

    • 3 votes
    #1.22 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:55 PM EDT

    And this one time at band camp...

    • 6 votes
    #1.23 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:00 PM EDT

    Hey...it might be true. It would be fantastic if it were true. I still think that mental illness is the cause of most of the things we read in the news.

    • 1 vote
    #1.24 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:01 PM EDT

    "... Biggs told Fox40.com, noting the dark figure was a “mama bear." So... Sarah Palin saved his life... or maybe it was a Big Foot...?

    • 1 vote
    #1.25 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:06 PM EDT

    Clearly Bigfoot, with a Chucacabra following for back up.

    • 2 votes
    #1.27 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:16 PM EDT

    C'mon you guys...cut the old boy some slack...considering the lies we hear daily from people running for office..this is some good stuff!

    • 6 votes
    #1.28 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:37 PM EDT

    The same thing happened to me last week. Actually, I was fishing on a golf course when an alligator grabbed me by the leg and was trying to drag me into the water. Well, this mountain lion actually ran over and jumped on the alligator's back. We call them Florida Panthers here. Anyway, the panther scared the alligator back into the lake and ran away. Who knew?

    • 2 votes
    #1.29 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:27 PM EDT

    Once upon a time, in a not so distant land, there was a man walking through the woods. He spied a baby bear and saw that it was lonely. He sang to the bear and played games with it.

    The big mama bear was watching from a distance, her heart filled with joy. She wanted so much to thank the kind stranger who was taking time out of his busy day to play with her cub. She listened to the man's voice so intently while he sang a song to the baby cub. She would never forget his voice in all her days. Deep inside her, she felt that one day she would see him again.

    Many moons had passed since that day in the woods and the man was walking there again. The mama bear was foraging when the man came past her again. She paused and looked up at him recognizing him from before. She smiled at him and went on.

    Suddenly a scary mountain lion jumped on the man's back and was just about to devour him! The man yelled in fright, "Help!" The sound of his voice rang out through the forest into the listening ears of wise mama bear. She knew instantly that the kind man was in trouble.

    She darted through the woods straight to his location. With a giant leap and pounce, she landed directly beside the mean old mountain lion. She drew back her powerful paw and jerked that mountain lion off the kind man and began pushing the mountain lion to the ground. While she destroyed the ferocious mountain lion, she remembered the day the kind man played with her cub. Finally, she was able to thank him for his kindness.

    The man ran back through the forest. He told everyone he encountered about the mama bear that had just saved him from the mountain lion. No one believed him. Soon he found himself locked away in a mental institution.

    One day while having his outside yard time at the mental facility, he spotted the mama bear watching from a distance at the edge of the tree line. He knew she would come. She was there to rescue him.

    The next day, the headlines read "Bear attacks staff outside California mental institution, one patient missing". : p

    • 6 votes
    #1.30 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:28 PM EDT

    Mushroom season?????????

    • 1 vote
    #1.31 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:49 PM EDT
    Reply

    Well he got his 2 minutes of fame. gotta wait for the DNA

    • 10 votes
    Reply#2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:13 AM EDT

    This guy has watched one too many Disney movies.

    • 9 votes
    Reply#3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:13 AM EDT

    I'm pretty sure it was a bigfoot instead of a bear.

    • 31 votes
    Reply#4 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:17 AM EDT

    I like that scenario, though ???

      #4.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:36 PM EDT

      just what i was thinking

        #4.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:54 PM EDT

        Pretty Squatchy story....I must admit!

        • 1 vote
        #4.3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:15 PM EDT

        Actually it was the Loch Ness Monster who attacked him and Big Foot got mad cause Loch Ness was getting all the attention so, Big Foot save the day by using his wrestling moves (which he learned while wrestling on WWE) and subdued Loch Ness (Nessie) and the fellow ran off in to the sunset and lived happily ever after.

        • 1 vote
        #4.4 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:29 PM EDT

        Maybe King Kong thought Godzilla was being attacked!

          #4.5 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:08 PM EDT

          I once shook hands with Pat Boone and my entire right side sobered up.
          So i reckon anything is possible.

          • 5 votes
          #4.6 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:44 PM EDT

          Which was the "Happy side," Left or right?

            #4.7 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:25 PM EDT
            Reply

            Pill time, dude!

            • 3 votes
            Reply#5 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:19 AM EDT

            Sounds legit...

            • 4 votes
            Reply#6 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:26 AM EDT

            In other words - I took shrooms and fell down a hill on my walk through the forest.

            • 17 votes
            Reply#7 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:26 AM EDT

            That shifty bear just wanted his own personal meal!! YOUR ON ALERT BEAR!! They are after our kids you know...what.. don't believe me??? www.colbertnation(DOT)com/the-colbert-report-videos/181598/february-23-2006/threatdown---bears

            • 5 votes
            Reply#8 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:29 AM EDT

            YUP1 The bears will steal your babies and raise to be bare naked bears! LOL

              #8.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:40 PM EDT
              Reply

              I left the gate open they were my pets, they like to scare people.

              • 3 votes
              Reply#9 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:30 AM EDT

              I'd be scared! So scared I'd shootem and make a rug!

              • 1 vote
              #9.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:38 PM EDT
              Reply

              There's a Jimmy Buffett song for every occasion, in this case "God's Own Drunk" (actually a cover). However, I think it was the guy drinking that honeydew moonshine.

              • 4 votes
              Reply#10 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:33 AM EDT

              This didn't happen. I read another article about this in which this guy claims that the bear saved him because he had befriended it on a previous hiking trip. He said he befriend the bear by playing patty cake with one of its cubs. No chance! Where i grew up we regularly had bears walking through the backyard. Anyone who knows anything about bears knows that you NEVER approach a bear cub in the wild. Had he actually tried to even approach the cub, the mother would have ripped him to shreds. Mother bears are extremely protective of their cubs and the one sure way to get yourself attacked is to get between a mother and her cubs. After reading his statement about playing with the cub i can't believe the rest of his story at all.

              • 12 votes
              Reply#11 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:42 AM EDT

              well . . . I will not argue that a momma bear would not become a bit concerned should you get between her & the cubs . . . but, since I have been in that situation more than once, I will argue it is NOT "one sure way to get yourself attacked".

              The bears I've dealt with were all black bear.

              • 1 vote
              #11.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:16 PM EDT

              Too TRUE

                #11.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:42 PM EDT

                Once upon a time, in a not so distant land, there was a man walking through the woods. He spied a baby bear and saw that it was lonely. He sang to the bear and played games with it.

                The big mama bear was watching from a distance, her heart filled with joy. She wanted so much to thank the kind stranger who was taking time out of his busy day to play with her cub. She listened to the man's voice so intently while he sang a song to the baby cub. She would never forget his voice in all her days. Deep inside her, she felt that one day she would see him again.

                Many moons had passed since that day in the woods and the man was walking there again. The mama bear was foraging when the man came past her again. She paused and looked up at him recognizing him from before. She smiled at him and went on.

                Suddenly a scary mountain lion jumped on the man's back and was just about to devour him! The man yelled in fright, "Help!" The sound of his voice rang out through the forest into the listening ears of wise mama bear. She knew instantly that the kind man was in trouble.

                She darted through the woods straight to his location. With a giant leap and pounce, she landed directly beside the mean old mountain lion. She drew back her powerful paw and jerked that mountain lion off the kind man and began pushing the mountain lion to the ground. While she destroyed the ferocious mountain lion, she remembered the day the kind man played with her cub. Finally, she was able to thank him for his kindness.

                The man ran back through the forest. He told everyone he encountered about the mama bear that had just saved him from the mountain lion. No one believed him. Soon he found himself locked away in a mental institution.

                One day while having his outside yard time at the mental facility, he spotted the mama bear watching from a distance at the edge of the tree line. He knew she would come. She was there to rescue him.

                The next day, the headlines read "Bear attacks staff outside California mental institution, one patient missing". : p

                • 1 vote
                #11.3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:25 PM EDT
                Reply

                There's magic mushrooms up in them there hills!

                • 8 votes
                Reply#12 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:46 AM EDT

                All in a day's work for BatBigfoot

                • 1 vote
                Reply#13 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:47 AM EDT

                I did not believe this the second they reported it. If DNA can prove it is true...I'll eat my cat.

                • 7 votes
                Reply#14 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:49 AM EDT

                PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals

                • 10 votes
                #14.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:02 PM EDT

                Please don't eat your cat, I couldn't "bear" to think about that.

                • 9 votes
                #14.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:10 PM EDT

                Your cat told me it tastes bad.

                • 4 votes
                #14.3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:23 PM EDT

                Hmmm ... what tastes better than pussy?

                • 8 votes
                #14.4 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:25 PM EDT

                Got Catsup? :-)

                • 2 votes
                #14.5 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:43 PM EDT

                Nothing wrong with eating a little cat.

                • 3 votes
                #14.6 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:14 PM EDT
                Reply

                Somebody ate my porridge.

                • 2 votes
                Reply#15 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:49 AM EDT

                The search for that elusive 15-minutes of fame continues!

                • 3 votes
                Reply#16 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:49 AM EDT

                He will get his 15 minutes at the state hospital.

                • 6 votes
                #16.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:08 PM EDT
                Reply

                I guess I should be happy he didn't claim it was bigfoot that saved him.

                • 3 votes
                Reply#17 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:58 AM EDT

                Why? That's a little more believable then mama bear coming to the resue of a human.

                • 2 votes
                #17.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:48 PM EDT
                Reply

                The bears and lions only duke it out around Thanksgiving time, so this has to be untrue. Also, there is no way the bears would ever win.

                • 5 votes
                Reply#18 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:58 AM EDT

                Everone loves a good lie. Maybe what he meant is he save the bear from the lion. lol

                • 2 votes
                Reply#19 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:07 PM EDT

                I had a rock in my right hand, and I come around and swing and hit him in the side of the head, and it made a big screeching sound. And I come back to swing again, and I come around, and just about half way there, I see this dark figure grabbing the neck of the mountain lion and tearing it down [to] the ground behind me,” Biggs told Fox40.com, noting the dark figure was a “mama bear.” Why would you not believe someone who can relate the attack so eloquently?

                • 2 votes
                Reply#20 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:09 PM EDT

                In all the confusion he mistook his bong for a rock. " hit him in the side of the head, and it made a big screeching sound" was just lion talk for "good $h#t".

                • 3 votes
                #20.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:16 PM EDT
                Reply

                Who cares what the fish and game department says. They are the biggest drain on society that there is. They have an agenda that doesn't include people.

                • 4 votes
                Reply#21 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:09 PM EDT

                Obviously Fish and Game has sided with the mountain lions. The bears oppose their agenda.

                • 10 votes
                #21.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:11 PM EDT

                Worn out; What an incredibly stupid statement. I would ask you to explain yourself, but I suspect I would be trying to teach a pig to sing.

                  #21.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:45 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  The only reason the bear had to step in and save this guy was the aliens trying to abduct him were too slow.

                  • 5 votes
                  Reply#22 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:09 PM EDT

                  I partied with all the Beatles last night and boy was it a great time, I even got to sing along and play on all the instruments, but I can't prove it though as when I woke up John, Paul, George and Ringo had all left with nary a trace that they were with me, Damn

                  • 3 votes
                  Reply#23 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:12 PM EDT

                  Both the bear and lion should be trapped and put down! The animals have obviously lost their fear of humans. Relocation is not the answer. The predators need to be thinned out as its beginning to be dangerous for us to be in the wild. I think there should be bounty's on lions and bears pelts like in the early 1900's. That was a safer time.

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#24 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:13 PM EDT

                  Turdchaser,

                  Go chase turds. You obviously know nothing about wildlife. If you're getting attacked in the wild, don't go into the wild. Why do you think they call it wild???

                  • 4 votes
                  #24.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:49 PM EDT

                  Bigfoot is on vacation in Florida this week ( see Skunk Ape )

                  • 1 vote
                  #24.2 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:52 PM EDT

                  Turdchaser sounds like he caught too many, and needs to leave the mama turds alone .

                    #24.3 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:54 PM EDT

                    Hate to tell ya, Turd, but if you're in the woods, you're on the animals turf. Best stay in the city or the 'burbs, where tenderfeet belong.

                    • 2 votes
                    #24.4 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:21 PM EDT

                    I have to agree that the Predators here on Turtle Island are out of control. The largest group needing immediate culling is the White Male Human.....clearly they show no fear of humans and have no control over their tendencies prey upon others.

                      #24.5 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:04 PM EDT

                      Turd; I would feel "safer" deep in the wild smeared with bacon grease than on any city street corner looking like I might have a dollar in my pocket.

                      • 2 votes
                      #24.6 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:12 PM EDT

                      Oh yeah chaser of turds, and while we're at it, why not thin out the animals in the oceans too. They obviously have no fear of humans either. Hmmmn

                        #24.7 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:14 PM EDT

                        So, TC, do you eat what you chase or just do it for sport?

                          #24.8 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:48 PM EDT

                          WyKnot, that is because you KNOW that the mama bear will save you from all the predators in the wild! No need to fear, but in the city it is all fair game.

                            #24.9 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:50 PM EDT

                            What do you expect when people are moving into the animals habitats?? Where are they suppose to go when people are slowly taking over where they live?? Don't feel safe going into the "wild" then don't go there in the first place. It's called "the wild" for a reason, "wild" animals live there. They do what they have to in order to survive, & if they feel threatened in their territory they do what they gotta do, even if the human doesn't mean any harm. People complain that animals are "losing their fear of people" but are quick to take over their habitat, & some don't think of those consequences of doing so. Then there are those who feed the wild animals which also causes them to lose that fear of humans b/c then they associate humans w/food. Maybe if people feel so threatened by wild animals, perhaps we should just ban people from going into "the wild'' & save all the hassle. But that wouldn't be fair now would it??

                              #24.10 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:30 PM EDT
                              Reply

                              As the population grows bigger, more and more people become less afraid of standing up to corruption, begin coming forward in greater numbers to stop further corruption, kind of like the old Mafia days. I hope you'll enjoy my new book, 'When the Rats ate the mafia' and my other book, 'When Rats eat corrupt law enforcement - government officials'.

                              • 1 vote
                              Reply#25 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:14 PM EDT

                              SOUNDS INCREDIBLY BORING......

                              • 1 vote
                              #25.1 - Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:45 PM EDT
                              Reply
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