Cougar Has Claws, Hiker Has Pistol

A jogger who says he pulled out a handgun to protect himself from a mountain lion near Modjeska Canyon said Thursday that he’d been carrying the weapon in his backpack since two cyclists were attacked in January -- one fatally -- by a cougar in the same area.

“It gives me a sense of security,” said Dave Cody, 25, an Air Force Reserve pilot who says he has used the gun in training. He said he was carrying the gun legally, and authorities have not said otherwise.

“If the lion had started running toward me,” he said, “I’d have had a much better chance of survival. Prior to [the attacks], I never carried it with me, and I don’t carry it anywhere else.”

Cody, a Trabuco Canyon resident, said he did not shoot at the cougar during Wednesday’s encounter. He said he retreated up a hill before using his cellphone to call authorities for help.

In January, the two mountain bikers -- Mark Reynolds, 35, who died, and Anne Hjelle, 30, who was seriously injured -- were attacked in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, about half a mile from where Cody says he saw a mountain lion. The animal that attacked the bikers was later killed by sheriff’s deputies.

Cody said he was out for an afternoon jog near Modjeska Grade Road and Santiago Truck Trail when the cougar leaped onto the trail about 20 feet in front of him.

The cat jumped down “a 5-foot embankment onto a pretty narrow trail,” he told KCAL-TV Channel 9 news. The animal, he said, “stopped and stood there on the trail looking at me.”

Cody said he pulled his handgun out of his backpack, retreated up a hill and called 911 on his cellphone. The only other way out, he said, “was right near the lion.” Within 10 minutes, he said, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department brought in a helicopter and flew him out.

Though Cody said he doesn’t know of any other joggers or bikers carrying weapons since the January attacks, “I’ve heard from other [people] that there are other people who carry guns out there.”

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday that he wasn’t aware of any similar cases and hopes that none exist. “From a police officer’s standpoint,” Lt. Hayward Miller said, “I don’t believe it’s a good idea for them to carry weapons out there. I believe there are an adequate amount of resources to protect the public.”

Cody said he agreed: “My advice isn’t that people need to carry handguns but that they never go out alone, stay close to the people they’re with and always be alert.”

An official with the California Department of Fish and Game said Thursday that the animal seen by Cody is not a threat to the public.