Boy, 6, receives award for saving his little brother from prowling cougar

Published: May 24, 2006 | 4230th good news item since 2003

When six-year-old Bryce Forbes saw a crouching cougar staring at him in his back yard, his first instinct was to run – not back to the house, but straight past the cat to grab his little brother.

The pair then made a mad dash into their Gold River house, astonishing their parents who were only a few metres away in a workshop but far enough away from their children that may not have been aware if an attack had occurred.

Once inside the house, Bryce used an extension phone to call his parents and tell them about the cat.

Bryce’s heroism that day, Easter Monday, earned him a bravery award Tuesday from B.C.’s environment minister and the admiration and relief of his father.

“They’re your kids, of course you’re always proud,” said Cameron Forbes.

“But at the same time as a dad, you wish the story was that, you know, you saw the cat and pulled on your cape and went out there and laid a whooping on him and saved your kids.

“But you’re just on the other side of the door and there’s a cat stalking your boy.”

Forbes said his youngest son Tucker, 5, was playing in the backyard and Bryce was walking into the garage when he heard a noise.

“He just heard something. He looked around, and crouched down coming at him from the back of the vehicle about five feet away was this cougar,” said Forbes.

“Rather than take the three steps and run in the house, he turned and ran, I don’t know, another 40 to 50 feet past the cat back outside to get his little brother.”

Once Bryce alerted his parents, his dad called RCMP, who shot the cougar.

Environment Minister Barry Penner travelled to Gold River, about 355 kilometres northeast of Victoria, on Tuesday to congratulate Bryce on his bravery and offer the boy a B.C. conservation officer’s cap and badge.

Cougar attacks on humans are rare, but they do occur in British Columbia.

In 1996, in Princeton, in B.C.’s Interior, mother Cindy Parolin was killed by a cougar while protecting her son from an attack.

In 1994 in Gold River, a cougar attacked seven-year-old Kyle Musselman as he walked to school. Musselman was seriously wounded and lost an eye in the attack.

Six months later in Gold River, the RCMP officer who shot and killed the cougar that attacked Musselman was himself attacked by a cougar while horseback riding.

Officer Rick McKerracher was clawed on the leg by a cougar, but not seriously injured.

In 1992, at Kyuquot, a remote village on northwest Vancouver Island, Jeremy Williams, 8, was killed by a cougar in front of his teacher – who was also his father – and school mates. The cat was shot by the school janitor as it stood over the boy.

Experts suggest cougars may be attracted attracted to children because of their higher-pitched voices, saying they may resemble small prey.

Published in Animals, Heroes, Kids & Teens and Rescues
See also: www.canada.com