Hiker Suffered A Broken Neck From Mountain Lion Attack
BY Herschel Smith
6 years ago
A Gresham woman killed in a suspected cougar attack near Mount Hood suffered a broken neck and had more than a dozen puncture wounds to the nape of her neck, records released this week show.
Those injuries — as well as wounds on Diana Bober’s hands — “appeared to be consistent with an animal attack,” staff in the Clackamas County medical examiner’s office determined, according to a state police report.
The 5-page report doesn’t list an official cause of death for Bober, 55, and it’s unclear why it’s missing. Her death is the state’s first confirmed fatal wild cougar attack.
Wildlife officials later shot and killed a female cougar they believe mauled Bober, based on all available evidence.
The new details emerged in Oregon State Police documents obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive through a public records request.
Searchers found Bober, an avid outdoorswoman, on Sept. 10 in the Mount Hood National Forest, three days after out-of-state relatives reported her missing. They said they hadn’t heard from her since Aug. 29.
Her body was discovered about 300 feet off the Hunchback Trail and down a steep incline, the state police report shows. The area was about a mile from the Zigzag Ranger Station, where searchers first found Bober’s car.
State officials said her wounds indicated a wild cougar was responsible.
A hunt for the mountain lion began almost immediately. Officials set up multiple cameras along the Hunchback Trail in the area where Bober was found.
Three days later, on Sept. 14, a trail camera captured an image of a large cougar, state police records show.
“This appears to be a big cat,” Sgt. Todd Hoodenpyl wrote to Capt. Jeff Samuels and Trooper Casey Codding at 9:51 a.m. that day.
About six hours later, search dogs treed the cougar off the Hunchback Trail and it was shot and killed, according to state police.
They’re not warm and cuddly and friendly. If you backpack or hike or mountain bike like I do, going solo is a risk. I usually take partners, but sometimes don’t. If you don’t, watch your six.
Always carry weapons and be prepared to use them with quick-access gear. And a dog can alert you to things you won’t hear or see.
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On October 29, 2018 at 8:08 am, Fred said:
Further down in the article this is interesting:
“Wildlife officials also never found any clear evidence why the attack occurred. At 64 ½ pounds, the cougar killed wasn’t emaciated, hadn’t had kittens in several years and tested negative for rabies and other diseases, according to the agency.”
That pretty much leaves prey like behavior on the part of the hiker including an injury.
I’m not sure that the animal caused her initial distress. It’s unlikely that a cougar would/could break a living adult’s neck that is fighting back, unless you were to go into shock immediately upon contact at the back of the neck. Even then. On a large mammal, the cat will attempt to choke the windpipe because it CAN’T simply break its neck. Suffocation, or blood loss if it hits an dear’s neck artery, is usually how it kills.
She had defensive wounds on her hands. Still I’m not convinced that she hadn’t fallen first causing the neck injury and was then found by the cougar who finished her. A cougar breaking an adults neck vertebra with its bite force? I don’t know? Could have dragged her living, pre-broken neck, off of the trail and tossed her down the ravine, where she was found, breaking her neck this way. This would seem more likely if she was healthy on contact which would lead back to prey like behavior on her part.
Or, the animal could have found her with the broken neck and tossed her into the ravine still living where she died of dehydration. This would be consistent with a healthy cat that doesn’t particularly want to eat a stringy human, but it being wise to save said human for potential snack later should the hunting of primary food sources not pan out over the next couple of days.
Interesting. I would have liked (you know what I mean) to have seen the scene.
Also annoying is the interchanging of ‘partially eaten’ and ‘mauled’ and ‘killed’ not all of which appear in the article. Writers and ‘Officials’ use these terms and they are not the same thing and one is neither evidence or a pre-requirement of any other.
On October 30, 2018 at 2:24 pm, MoralFracas said:
Saw a slow mo video once on how a ML attacks its prey. They sneak up from behind and leap up high in the air at the prey’s head. While in air they bring the rear paws forward to the front ones and form a claw basket. They land the claw basket on the back of the head and clinch it tight through the skull and upper neck. Effective. Had guides in CO where hats that they had drawn human eyes and the back of the hat. Swore it worked.
Great site, been following and reposting for years. Gave up GAb, Freezoxee etc. Back to old school, just missed my daily reads. MF
On October 31, 2018 at 12:01 am, TheAlaskan said:
Predators are going to be predators. This ‘small’ girl was warned about jogging alone. Her Pennsylvania upbringing precipitated her ignoring the Native Alaskan warning. This was the result her ignorance;
https://www.adn.com/outdoors/article/wolves-killed-alaska-teacher-2010-state-says/2011/12/07/