Video: Canadian Mom Thwarts Cougar Attack on 7-Year-Old Son
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.16.19
A Canadian mom on Vancouver Island went toe-to-toe with a cougar after it attacked her 7-year-old son.. right in their own backyard!
As CTV News Vancouver Island reports, Zachery Lockhart was playing in the backyard of his family’s Lake Cowichan home after school one evening earlier this month. His mother, Chelsea Lockhart was inside the home when she apparently heard their fence surrounding the property rattle.
A young cougar (mountain lion) was attempting to get through the fence, flashing its teeth as it stared the boy down in the yard.
“In that moment he [Zackery] knew he was in danger, so he started taking off down this alleyway to get to the house,” Chelsea recalled. “[The cougar] pushed its way through, and you can see the scratch marks on the pole.”
“I could hear his voice, I could hear struggling, so I ran down the stairs and ran to his voice and turned the corner, and I see this animal on my child,” Lockhart stated.
Once outside, Chelsea went full-on “mom mode” and before she knew what was happening, she was engaged in a wrestling match with the animal who was trying to drag her son out of their yard.
“[Zackery] was on the ground and the cougar was over him and it was attached to his arm,” said Lockhart. “I just leaped on it and tried to pry its mouth open.”
Knowing she might very well be fighting for her child’s life, she got her hands in the cougars mouth desperately trying to pry its jaw open.
“I looked at him and I just thought, ‘Oh my god, my kid could die right before my eyes.’ All you think is what can you do? What can you do in your own physical strength?”
After a tussle that seemed to last for several minutes, the animal eventually let go of Zackery and ran off. Zackery sustained injuries to his neck and arms, and was left with a four-centimetre gash on his head. First responders arrived moments later and both Zackery and his mother were transported to the hospital for immediate medical treatment.
The 7-year-old boy received stitches for his head wound and is expected to make a full recovery.
According to reports, the cougar involved in the attack along with another believed to be its sibling were caught and exterminated by conservation officers. It is thought the juvenile mountain lions were separated from their mother for an extended amount of time. A necropsy later revealed that the animals were likely starving at the time.
“We don’t know why they were starving, but it seems quite probable that they’ve been without a mother for a number of months,” said conservation officer Ben York. “It was as simple as just an opportunistic thing and a bit of desperation on their part.”
