‘TRAUMATIC INJURIES’

Two California Brothers Attacked by Mountain Lion, One Killed

They were searching for antlers shed by deer when one was mauled to death and the other suffered facial injuries.

Two brothers searching for deer antlers in Georgetown, California, were attacked by a mountain lion—and one of them was killed, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said. The younger brother, who is 18, managed to get away and call 911; he suffered “traumatic injuries to his face.” Deputies began searching for the older brother, who was 21, and quickly found the mountain lion crouched next to his body. They fired their weapons, scaring off the animal, but it was later killed when a team of wardens and trappers tracked it down. Mountain lion attacks are “extremely rare,” according to Beth Pratt, who runs the National Wildlife Federation’s mountain lion preservation effort. The last one in El Dorado County was in 1994, and there hasn’t been one in all of California in two decades. “These statistics don’t diminish the tragedy when a person is killed or injured by a lion, but it puts the risk in perspective,” Pratt said. ”Automobiles, by contrast, cause on average... 3,000-4,000 deaths each year in California.”