If someone told you they killed a rabid mountain lion with a frying pan, would you believe it?
Chino Valley resident Brandon Arnold has such a story, and he has witnesses to prove it.
Arnold, 24, his girlfriend Tessa Gerdes and seven of their Chino Valley friends, including three children, were camping 4 May at a remote spot on the Tonto National Forest, near the Verde River off Bloody Basin Road, when the story of a lifetime unfolded.
They were getting ready to make breakfast at about 6.45am when a large animal jumped out of the bushes onto the back of Arnold’s dog Apollo, a 90-pound lab-pit bull mix.
It was hard to tell what it was when it jumped out of there covered with grass and smelling like a skunk,
Arnold’s friend Donald Jones said. I thought it was somebody’s dog, so I was just pissed off somebody brought a mean dog to camp.
Jones grabbed the neck of both the animals to try to pull them apart.
That’s when they all figured out the other animal wasn’t a dog.
Jones let go real fast.
I started screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘Holy (bleep), it’s a mountain lion!’
Arnold recalled.
The lion ran into the mesquite bushes and Apollo ran after it while the men frantically looked for the nearest weapon. Jones grabbed a camping table and Arnold grabbed a 14-inch cast-iron skillet heating up on the propane stove. Arnold got to the lion and dog fight first and did what he had to do to save Apollo.
The first time I had a clear shot I just swung the pan and hit him right on the head,
Arnold said. It was like a cartoon — he just kind of stopped and I hit him again. He got stiff and fell over
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
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