Mythology tells of a terrible lion in Nemea that killed the people and their livestock and had impenetrable skin. In the first of 12 labors, King Eurystheus tasked the great wrestler Hercules with killing it.
Hercules, wrestling with Diomedes. We don’t know the name of that counter. Third Legbar, maybe.
Hercules tries arrows, but they only make the lion mad. You don’t want to make a lion mad. So Hercules runs at the lion, cornering it in its cave, stuns it with a club, and then kills it with his bare hands.
Except for the names, and a few other changes, it happened again.
On Sunday at 6:00 p.m., San Luis Obispo’s KSBY News reported that Robin Olson and his son were hiking at around 5:30 PM in Prefumo Canyon, when they were attacked by a mountain lion.
Olson reported that he told his son to flee before the animal lunged at him. He reported he then grabbed the cat, and broke its neck in the ensuing struggle, killing it. The self-described former college wrestler had scratches on his arms, but was otherwise unharmed.
As you might imagine, the story of the wrestler killing a lion was widely reported.
Although there are approximately 5,000 mountain lions in California, attacks are humans are rare. There are have been only three fatal attacks on humans in the past 16 years.
And in fact, this was not an attack, either.
KSBY withdrew their initial report.
Upon further investigation, his claim has been determined to be a hoax.
Officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife interviewed Olson on Monday and say he admitted the story was fabricated.
KSBY News staffers attempted, but failed, to independently confirm his claims prior to the broadcast of this story. We sincerely apologize to our viewers and will work hard to make sure additional protocols are in place to make sure this kind of error does not happen again.
The National Park Service list four safety precautions if attacked by a mountain lion:
•Do not run;
•Shout and wave your arms in order to look large and threatening; •Maintain eye contact; and,
•Throw sticks and rocks.
The NPS also says if an attack occurs, fight back. That is advice we can get behind.
