Father Stabs Mountain Lion with Pocket Knife to Save 6-Year-Old Son
A father used a pocket knife to fight off a mountain lion that was attacking his 6-year-old son at a park in west Texas.
Rivers Hobbs, 6, was walking near a lodge at Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park, in West Texas, with his family on Saturday night, when he was attacked by a mountain lion, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Luckily, his father, Jason Hobbs, was able to fight the cat away by stabbing at it with a pocket knife. He jumped on the lion just as it closed its mouth around the young boys face and stabbed it in the chest, according to Fox News.
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"The cat was clamped onto his face, I reached down and got my pocket knife out and stabbed the cat in the chest and it let go at that point," Hobbs said.
Reportedly, they were walking with two other people at the time of the attack.
"It sneaked up on me," the younger Hobbs told Fox News.
The boy was treated at a hospital in Alpine, Texas for non-life threatening injuries. He suffered scrapes and puncture wounds to the face. He had to get 17 stitches on his face to close the puncture wound.
Rivers Hobbs also had to get a series of rabies shots.
According to park spokesman, Dave Elkowitz, the mountain lion was a smaller, younger cat.
"From the description, it's small and haggard-looking," Elkowitz said. "It would appear to be a young lion."
Elkowitz said that the lion remains on the loose and will be killed when it is found, according to AP.
The park closed its trails on Monday as dog teams were used to search for the cat. Traps were also set to try and capture the lion.
The attack is believed to be the second reported sighting of the lion that night. Before the young boy's attack, a cat with a similar description approached a family on the campgrounds, but was chased off.
Park visitors were warned that children not hike in the Chisos Mountains and that trail paths would be changed. Rangers have also been patrolling the area and campsites were been closed.
