Mountain lions have always been a part of my life. I always believed my dad, Dee Cannon, is a great hunter. When I was 5 years old he shot one of the largest mountain lions in the US. My dad named him Tom and we grew up with stories of ,”Tom the big daddy mountain lion.”
I got a call from my daughter who was camping one half hour from my home in Sugar City, Idaho at 9:45pm on August 12, 2016. She said Kelsi got attacked by a mountain lion and asked me to look up what time a Urgent Care office in Rexburg closed. What the… Who gets a call like that?
After a troubled nights sleep, a few conversations with Kera, Gabe, my step son, and I headed up the mountain to be with our family. I started to think of sweet names for my grand daughter to make the mood brighter. Together we came up with, “Princess Puma” And so that is what she forever will be called. My little” Puma Princess.”
When I got up there my grandkids and nieces and nephews came running to me and started telling me all about it. I wasn’t there when it happened, but I have heard over and over, from different perspectives of the situation. This is how it all came together for me.
When I got there, everyone was sitting around in a circle and not leaving camp. After hugs and stories of the day before, I wanted to spend time with the kidos, and go on an adventure.
Puma Princess and her mom were taking a nap. So me and kids, 4-15, headed out. We came to the creek and they showed me the crawdads they had caught and released the day before.
Then we went to the swimming hole a half mile up the trail. They were worried that there would be another mountain lion. I told them that most of Tom’s kids were good, but the naughty one, who came in the camp and hurt Puma Princess, is gone. Tom is the nickname for the Mountain Lion that hangs on Grandpa Cannon’s wall. A few years back Tom tried to attack Grandpa and he didn’t win that fight. The stories about Tom have grown and evolved over the years. So I convinced the kids that we didn’t need to worry. I had Princess Maylie, the sister to Puma Princess, convinced to go swimming with me later. But we were ruled out and ended up going back to the public swimming pool.
On the way back we came across a 3 foot long bull snake.
We wanted to take it back to camp to show the rest, but it didn’t want to cooperate.
We got back to camp and Puma Princess and my daughter, Kera, were awake. There was a police officer there asking questions and getting evidence.
This is how I interpret how the mountain lion attack happened. This is all 2nd hand… Kera was in the tent with her 2 daughters. Kelsi came out of the tent and was headed to Annalisa, her cousin.
Rylee my niece saw the mountain lion first and yelled,” Mountain lion!” Annalisa was holding Rylee’s two year old baby and started yelling.
Rylee and Annalisa saw everything very clear. Rylee ran to Kelsi, Kera came out of the tent and came at the lion from a different angle. Meanwhile the young male lion was coming in for a grab and run. He grabbed Kelsi by the waist in his mouth and she was heavier than he expected. The lion weighing 93 lbs. and Kelsi at 36 lbs. He dropped Kelsi, turned her over and pounced on her with both paws. With all the commotion he realized that he was not a match for these two “momma bears,” Kera, Rylee and a “momma bear” in training, Annalisa. Kera and Rylee are cousins who love God and their children. They are woman of strong faith and a big Tom Cat doesn’t have a chance with these women , let alone for a young strapping mountain lion. Annalisa is only 10 but she has a strong mothering instinct and had their back. Kesli held her mom like she would never let go.
Kelsi talked and asked questions all evening and way into the morning. At one point she asked her mom why she didn’t video it? Kera said,” Well I was busy saving your life.”
When I saw Kelsi I wanted to hold her, but she was so sore, she has bite marks on her torso, legs and down to her little sweet feet. I kept kissing her with gratitude and love, finally she said,”Grandma, quit kissing me”
Kelsi was sitting in the most comfortable chair in the camp with her blanket. The kids were all hanging around and Annalisa and I started bowing down to our “Puma Princess” Kelsi decided she kinda liked the attention. But the princesses, princes and I spent the rest of the day with all the other kidos, and “Princess Maylie” She needed her grandma and her grandma needed her.