Hero Mother Literally Wrestles 5-Year-Old From the Jaws of a Mountain Lion
When I picture the kind of mother I’d like to be, it’s usually some sort of melange of Angelina Jolie, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi, Martha Stewart, Cora Grantham, and maybe with a little bit of Mallory Archer in there, just for the scotch and the snark. But now I’m adding the unnamed Colorado mother who literally pulled her 5-year-old from the jaws of a mountain lion this weekend, because scotch and snark always take a backseat to actual heroism.
According to the New York Times, the unnamed mother was at home over the weekend at their house just outside Aspen, Colo., around 8 p.m. on Saturday. Her 5-year-old son was playing in the family’s backyard with his older brother, when she suddenly heard them screaming and darted outside. There, in her own backyard, she saw a fucking mountain lion on top of her baby. According to the New York Times, the mountain lion had her son’s whole head in its mouth.
I think we’d all like to think we’re like that mother, because she attacked the lion and managed to pry its jaws open with her hands.
”She was able to pry the cat’s jaws open,” said Pitkin County Sheriff’s deputy Michael Buglione to The Aspen Times. ”She’s a hero.”
No kidding, she’s a hero. She wrenched open the jaws of a mountain lion to save her son. I always wonder if an event like that changes a family dynamic at all. I mean, sure, in 10 years he’s going to roll his eyes at her and complain when he’s not allowed to do stuff 15-year-olds want to do. But somewhere under all that teen eye-rolling, a kid must be aware that his mother actually fought off a mountain lion for him. I think almost all parents would do that, or would want to, but I think most kids aren’t actually aware of the degree to which their parents would be willing to fight wild animals for them. For most families, it’s a hypothetical situation. This kid knows it for real.
The father called 911 and reported the mountain lion while he drove his wife and son to the hospital after the mountain lion attack, and officers found and killed a mountain lion in the family’s front yard. They say they’re looking for a second that had been spotted nearby. Experts say real estate development in the area has been pushing the mountain lions to move out of their more familiar territories, and they’ve been encountering people in human-settled territories more often lately.
