Californian Mountain Biker Claims He Was Attacked By Mountain Lion… It Was A House Cat

Classic case of overselling something to appear tougher. If you are riding solo as a mountain biker and you get attacked by a cat, regardless of what injuries you sustain, the story you tell afterwards is that the "biggest mountain lion you've ever seen" was what left scratch marks on your body. You might even hype it up and say something like, "I'm honestly lucky to be alive." 19-year-old James Way was biking in Arroyo Grande, California when he was attacked, and that paragraph above is pretty close to what his story was. He told wildlife officials that he was riding along when a fierce mountain lion jumped out of a tree and scratched at his legs. Looking at that situation in black and white, and trusting the young kid's word, that sounds terrifying. Because it was a potential mountain lion attack, wildlife officials investigated the incident. They did DNA testing on Way's clothes and helmet to confirm that the mountain biker did, in fact, dance with death that was in the form of an aggressive big cat. As it turns out, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported that it was a cat that attacked the 19-year-old... just not a big one: "Lab results came back not with evidence of a cougar, but domestic cat DNA instead. Mountain lion DNA was not detected on any of the samples." How embarrassing. The guy got attacked by a house cat and reported it to wildlife officials. I know it was probably still a scary situation, but you have to be 100% sure that you were attacked by a mountain lion if you are going to report it. Even if there's the slightest inkling that it might have been a little house cat, you suck it up and don't say a word. If it would have actually been a mountain lion that attacked the mountain biker, it would have been a rare occurrence, as the Tribune explained: "Only 24 mountain lion attacks on humans have been reported since 1984. The majority of incidents were nonfatal, although in four cases in El Dorado, San Diego and Orange counties, victims died. No cases have been reported in San Luis Obispo County, however an attack in Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara occurred in 1992." Here's a little comparison... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WxF2mbstk