One California woman discovered an unwelcome visitor in her backyard when she let her dog out in the middle of the night.
According to the Simi Valley Police Department, "She let her small dog out of her residence to use the restroom. When the dog entered her backyard, it ran after what she realized was a mountain lion. The mountain lion responded by attacking the dog."
The woman leaped onto the mountain lion's back to rescue her dog, a 10-year-old miniature Schnauzer named Pumbaa. She tried to pry open the mountain lion's mouth and punched the wild animal. "She saw the mountain lion and her dog charged under her legs toward the mountain lion, and the mountain lion snapped it up. She jumped on the mountain lion and tried to pry its jaws open to save her dog because she loves her dog so much," her brother Brian told NBC4 .
The woman's fighting response is right in line with what area police recommend. She obviously cared about her dog very much, as all dog owners do, Sgt. Keith Eisenhour added told NBC4 . She tried to fend the animal off by punching it, elbowing it and tried to pry its jaws open. The Simi Valley Police shared on Facebook : "If a lion attacks, fight back. Research on mountain lion attacks suggests that many potential victims have fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, garden tools, even an ink pen or bare hands. Try to stay on your feet. If knocked down, try to protect head and neck."
While others have successfully fended off mountain lion attacks, this woman was not able to do so. The mountain lion became aggressive toward the woman, and she retreated back into her home, according to officers. Unfortunately, Pumbaa did not survivebut this woman deserves major props for her valiant effort to save her beloved pet.
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