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GhillieScout · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:05 am Post subject: "After the Attack"

Post subject: Mountain lion attack on local man replays on TV
The vicious mountain lion attack on longtime Camarillo resident Jim Hamm and his remarkable recovery will play out on TV this weekend — on Discovery's Animal Planet.

"After the Attack" airs at 4 p.m. today, 10 p.m. Sunday, and 1 and 5 a.m. Monday.

The show re-enacts the life-changing moment 13 months ago when Hamm, now 71, and his wife, Nell, now 68, were on a walk in the woods about 100 miles north of Fortuna. Residents of the Santa Rosa Valley for 45 years, the Hamms moved to Fortuna, in Humboldt County, about three years ago.

During their time in Ventura County, the couple were active and adventurous. They took scuba diving lessons and hiked. Nell was an adaptive aquatics instructor in the Conejo Recreation and Park District for 15 years. (Jim worked at Abex Aerospace Inc. in Oxnard for 38 years.)

The couple, wed 51 years, remained avid hikers after their move to Northern California.

It was near the end of a 10-mile hike in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, about 3 p.m. Jan. 23, 2007, when a mountain lion came from behind and attacked Jim, tearing into his scalp. Nell fought hard, beating and poking the big cat, which finally walked away.

"Nothing prepares you for what Jim and I went through," Nell said during an interview shortly after the attack.

Jim underwent four surgeries and has continued to recover well.

"It's just a miracle," Joanna Wullschleger, a longtime friend and former Santa Rosa Valley neighbor of the Hamms, said this week.

For the re-enactment for the Animal Planet show, the Hamms were flown to Montana to watch actors simulate the attack.

"Nell said it was hard," Wullschleger related. "To relive it wasn't great."

http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/08/no-headline---le1fcbottomanimal08/

fngonuts · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:38 am Post subject:

I watched the show. I'm happy to see Jim looks to be doing very well. He even seemed to be in good spirits. They both seemed to enjoy interacting with a kitten and got pretty close with an adult male lion. I'm proud of them for being strong and facing their fears. They seem like a cool older couple and I wish them the best.

fngonuts · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:45 am Post subject:

I forgot to mention this. They showed a map of the US with cougar habitat indicated in red. I was surprised to see the New England states were indicated as having a cougar population. It also looked like parts of New York and Pennsylvania were also shown in the red.

I noticed Michigan wasn't indicated as having a population. I just wonder what sources they used to make this map.

PaGuy · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:02 pm Post subject:

Well, I watched it too, very closely.
Did you notice that the couple never got close to the big cat???
The main thing was.... this was a "trained pet", or at least it was suppose to be.

Did you notice, that when the mannequin was put out for "the cat to attack", it bit off the head and ran off.

If you listened to what they said, "it took 2 hours for them to get the cat back under control."

Trained pet my a$$. They are all wild animals that are just "appeasing" us because they feel like it. When they don't feel like it, a tragedy can happen.
It's playing with fire.
I was surprised they even admitted, "it took two hours to get the cat under control."

fngonuts · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject:

yeah I was shocked they admitted that it took that long. I think they did this on purpose to show even a "tame" animal isn't totally predictable. Looked to me like the cougar was playing keep away. Hey atleast the head was just a pillow and it didn't look like an actual head.

I don't think its wise to encourage any cougar to jump on a figure shaped like a person. Even if this is what Hollywood wants .This cougar is supposed to be trained for showbiz.

Bearman58 · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:43 am Post subject:

You're right about that! We have always avoided heavy wrestling and attack 'play' with our cougars. They are far too fast and sneaky for human reflexes!
I was doing a bit for SNL last year, and I was supposed to simulate a cougar attack-I guess I let the money and the lights get the better of me, and I ended up with a scar, and separation of the vitreous humor in my right eye Embarassed

. My fault, of course-she's just a cougar with a limited number of responses to stimuli, and I am not as quick as I used to be. I was more upset that I might have damaged our relationship(it didn't Very Happy

) than I was about getting hurt. She is officially retired from showbiz-its just not worth it to me. BTW, all the reasons above (+ lawyers)are why they didn't let that couple near the cat!
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GhillieScout · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:18 am Post subject:

Bloodhounds · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:17 am Post subject:

fngonuts · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:11 pm Post subject:

I'm fine with trained attack dogs as long as the dog and handler are both mentally healthy.

I used to work at a place that would adopt retired police K9's and use them as security dogs. They worked out fine until they got older. When they got older I noticed they would tend to go nuts. They became very unpredictable and aggressive in their old age. A few people got bit pretty bad. They eventually had to be chained up and no one could get near them.

Around here the police departments stopped using German Shepards. I don't know if its insurance reasons or what but they don't seem to want attack dogs anymore. Instead they are using labs purely for drug sniffing.

Bloodhounds · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:25 am Post subject:

Well around me the police keep their dogs with the officer and he keeps the dog for life. When the dog retires, the officer gets another dog. Usually works out great. I personally don't know of any Labs being used around here. Lots of German Shepards locally and a few Bloodhounds are with the State Police.
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fngonuts · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject:

yeah I think thats usually how it works just about everywhere. I don't think the officer that handled this dog was still alive. I know the dog was retired from the force because of an injury. I know he was missing an eye. I was told he lost his eye from being shot by a suspect. I felt bad for the poor dog I tried to form a bond with him but by the time I started working there he was too far gone. Even the guy that fed the dog couldn't get near him anymore.

This was the first time I've heard of a lab as a police dog too. They just got the dogs over the summer.

Bloodhounds · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject:

I know the airport got a new drug/explosives dog and he is a Lab but the police around here have mostly German Shephards and a few Belgiun Malinous for general purpose dogs and of course the State guys keep a few Bloodhounds
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