Huh. We were just talking about mountain lion attacks....
Man Says He Used Chainsaw to Fight Starving Mountain Lion
CODY, Wyoming — A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off an apparently starving mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip in northwestern Wyoming with his wife and two toddlers.
Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes.
The 6-foot-tall, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.
"It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
...
The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.
"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."
The mountain lion was shot and killed Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal, which was 4 to 5 years old. Authorities say it was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving.
Weekend: I am going away with my sister and my nephew on a trip that was supposed to be a weekend at a cottage, but now is a weekend in a resort. I am kind of dreading it, because my sister has booked us in one-bedroom suite, and she is a notorious and bad-tempered light sleeper. However, I am trying to remain positive.
It's definitely Monday-ish here. My stepdad's father is in the ICU with double pneumonia, and apparently his condition is pretty bad right now. My mom told me they don't think he'll live.
And the thing about my mom's statement is, (1) she's melodramatic; (2) I don't know who she means when she says "they" -- the doctors? stepdad's family?, (3) if she means stepdad's family says he won't live, is that their fear, did they understand the doctors correctly?, and (4) I want her to be wrong.
When I talked to her a little bit ago, she was printing out living will and power of attorney stuff (because my stepdad asked her to) and getting ready to go to the hospital. So, she might not be wrong.
And my stepdad's father is 74 or 75, so normal life expectancy. And nobody gets off this planet alive. But it's still upsetting.
Man Says He Used Chainsaw to Fight Starving Mountain Lion
I'm not even going to call that guy a pussy for taking a chainsaw when he goes camping.
Oh Teppy! I read that as your Stepfather... being a skippy skimmy is an easy way to scare the hell out of yourself.
I'm so sorry to hear about his Father though. What a terrible time. I really hope there is misunderstanding and/or pessimism and that he'll be ok. He really could be ok. You are all in my thoughts.
I hope all goes well Steph.
I read that as your Stepfather... being a skippy skimmy is an easy way to scare the hell out of yourself.
I'm so sorry to hear about his Father though. What a terrible time. I really hope there is misunderstanding and/or pessimism and that he'll be ok. He really could be ok. You are all in my thoughts.
It started as pneumonia (single pneumonia?) at least a month ago, or more. And antibiotics weren't working, but he felt okay. (He's one of those play-through-the-pain stoic types, though.)
I told my stepdad that if the antibiotics weren't working, they really need to have him cough up some nastiness and culture it to see exactly what bacteria are causing it, so they know which antibiotic to use, since some bacteria are totally resistant to some antibiotics.
As far as I know, they didn't do that until this week, which makes me so fucking angry.
But then, there's also the part where stepdad's father, despite having pneumonia, has been doing yardwork and housework all along, because like I said, he's one of those just-tough-it-out men. So he REALLY wasn't doing himself any favors, and I'm angry at him, too.
Man. I call the doctor when I *sneeze,* practically, and this 75-year-old man was mowing his enormous lawn and trimming hedges with double fucking pneumonia. He's a brick.
And my poor mom is totally stressed, because she's still really upset about being fired (which is totally justified), and now she's trying to be strong for my stepdad, and she's just fried.
{{Steph's family}} I hope he makes it through this to be aggravatingly cavalier about his health in the future.
