That's One Bad Ass

I recently received an e-mail that was a little hard to believe. Supposedly a mule fought off a mountain lion that had bested two hound dogs and endangering the lives of his owners. Unbelievable, right? You may have noticed in a pasture full of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, whatever, somewhere in the mix, a lone donkey will be out there just minding his own business. Why would a donkey be out there? The old timers say "because donkeys kill wolves" and apparently whatever else. I've just taken their word for it, until I saw this story. I've listed it below and included the photos at the end. From what I can tell, these photos do not appear to have been doctored.

Here's the story:

A couple from Montana were out riding on the range, he with his rifle and she (fortunately) with her camera. Their dogs always followed them, but on this occasion a Mountain Lion decided that he wanted to stalk the dogs (you'll see the dogs in the background watching). Very, very bad decision...

The hunter got off the mule with his rifle and decided to shoot in the air to scare away the lion, but before he could get off a shot the lion charged in and decided he wanted a piece of those dogs. With that, the mule took off and decided he wanted a piece of that lion. That's when all hell broke loose... for the lion.

As the lion approached the dogs the mule snatched him up by the tail and started whirling him around. Banging its head on the ground on every pass. Then he dropped it, stomped on it and held it to the ground by the throat. The mule then got down on his knees and bit the thing all over a couple of dozen times to make sure it was dead, than whipped it into the air again, walked back over to the couple (that were stunned in silence) and stood there ready to continue his ride... as if nothing had just happened.

Now, here's the photos:

There it is. If the pics are fakes, I'll be glad to appologize. But, right now, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to get a donkey to keep in my back yard. It might make a better watchdog than my dog, Otis.