Mule: 1; Mountain Lion: 0

[rlown]

My mom sent this to me. Not sure where she got it. Anyway:

This may be a first...

A couple from Montana were out riding on the range, he with his rifle and she (fortunately) with her camera. Their dogs always followed them, but on this occasion a mountain lion decided that he wanted to stalk the dogs (you'll see the dogs in the background watching) Very, very bad decision.

The hunter got off the mule with his rifle and decided to shoot in the air to scare away the lion, but before he could get off a shot the lion charged in and decided he wanted a piece of those dogs. With that, the mule took off and decided HE wanted a piece of that lion. That's when all heck broke loose for the lion.

As the lion approached the dogs, the mule snatched him up by the tail and started whirling him around, banging its head on the ground on every pass. Then he dropped it, stomped on it and held it to the ground by the throat. The mule then got down on his knees and bit the thing all over a couple of dozen times to make sure it was dead, then whipped it into the air again, walked back over to the couple (who were stunned in silence), and stood there ready to continue his ride as if nothing had just happened. Fortunately, even though the hunter didn't get off a shot, his wife got off these four pictures.

[oldranger]

You sure the Mountain Lion was alive when the mule attacked? I find it hard to believe that a mule could grab a live mountain lion. There was a movie of a mule attacking a mountain lion on the internet a few years ago but again there was no evidence that the mountain lion was alive before contact was made.

Mike

[Wandering Daisy]

Are you saying you think the guy shot the Lion then tried to cover up staging the Mule-kill event? Or is the whole thing fake (is that a stuffed mountain lion?). Or did they just amble up upon a dead mountain lion? But, I must admit that a lot of fake stuff gets on the internet. I do know that mules can be downright nasty and could stomp a lion (or person) to death.

[maverick]

This is a little unbelievable especially considering how agile and strong a mountain lion
is.

PS By the way I just checked this out, and the lion was already dead when the mule
picked it up. http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/mulelion.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[quentinc]

Even though the lion was dead (or a stuffed animal), it's pretty damn scary that a mule would do that. I think if I were there I'd have shot the mule.

[Troutdog 59]

I'd seen the snopes report on this one before, but its still kinda odd that the mule would give such thrashing to the dead cat. I kinda agree with Quintec, if it had actually attacked the cat, I'd be more afraid of the dang mule!