It had all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster.A young man walking alone in the mountains, accosted by wild beasts — in this case, a cougar — caught in a fight for survival. It was posted to social media and went viral, making headlines around Canada and the world.Except it didn’t happen..That is, not according to Parks Canada officials who on Friday said they could find no evidence that 23-year old Spencer Weilermann was ever attacked by a cougar while hiking on the Rockbound Lake trail near Castle Mountain on February 12.On Thursday, Parks Canada said it completed an investigation into the February 12 report of a cougar attack at the Rockbound Lake area, and officials said no cougar DNA was found on the samples that were collected for testing and no evidence of a cougar — such as tracks — were detected anywhere in the vicinity of the reported attack.“Following standard protocol, Parks Canada thoroughly searched the area of the reported incident and found no signs of cougar activity,” according to a statement. Parks Canada also undertook forensic testing to corroborate initial findings and concluded “DNA was not found on the samples that were collected.”“Parks Canada’s investigation is now closed..According to the account, he recalled the smell of the animal as a “wet dog” sprayed by a skunk, with a pungent odour of urine..Weilermann caused a stir with accounts of the attack, which would have been the first encounter with a cougar since a woman was attacked at Lake Minnewanka in 2001.He went as far as to grant interviews to local media and post photos to his social media accounts showing scratches to his face, which went viral.He said he’d stopped on the trail to take a leak when the otherworldly beast leaped for his neck.“I reach around, grab as much fur as I can,” Weilermann said. “With the momentum of it jumping on me, I kind of fell forward and did kind of like a front flip down the hill.”According to Postmedia, his glasses fell off, and he started kicking and screaming while pushing the cougar away by its neck. He told the paper the entire encounter may have lasted for around 20 or 30 seconds, and wasn’t sure if he’d lost consciousness.“I hit my face; that’s where all the scratches and the bruise came from. I smashed it on a log.”According to the account, he recalled the smell of the animal as a “wet dog” sprayed by a skunk, with a pungent odour of urine.As a result of the report, Parks Canada shut the area to human traffic for more than two weeks while it investigated.Local wildlife advocates said cougar attacks are so rare that it’s more likely that people would get killed from a falling vending machine. Lightning strikes, snake bites and fatal bee stings are more common.According to Wikipedia there have been 126 cougar attacks in North America in the past century, 27 of which have been fatal. The best advice for withstanding a strike is to ‘play dead’.A RCMP spokesman told the Western Standard that mischief charges would be warranted if it was an act of malice directed against another person. “But obviously a cougar isn’t a person,” he said. “This wouldn’t meet the threshold.”
