True story or urban legend?

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.

Fortunately even though the hunter didn't get off a shot, his wife got off these 4...

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Wow! that was pretty cool.

That's wild. That couple had better be nice to that mule from now on. I wouldn't want to make him mad.

Snoops.com - real pictures; inaccurate description.

According to Steve Richards, who wrote a couple of articles about them for Western Mule Magazine, these pictures date from 2002 or 2003 and show Berry, a now 11-year-old mule, owned by a 25-year-old hunter named Jody Anglin. The incident depicted took place in southwestern New Mexico, and came about as Berry the mule grew more aggressive over time in his pursuit of mountain lions with Jody. When Jody first got the mule and after Jody shot the first lion out, Berry casually came over to the lion and just nuzzled the lion and casually nibbled it. With each lion Berry just got more aggressive. Jody said it didn't take more than two lions and Berry got really aggressive to the lion and couldn't wait to get the cat. However, the text description accompanying these photographs is somewhat inaccurate, as Berry didn't actually kill the mountain lion — the mule picked it up and tossed it around only after it was already dead. The lion was dead before the mule Berry took and shook the lion. A lion is a powerful and lethal predator and can easily kill a mule — however a mule can be quite an adversary.

I guess there's no getting around snopes. They are so good.
Thanks for the info gagirl!

BTW - Who in the world reads "Western Mule Magazine"???

The Western Mule Owner's Association

wow this story is really crazy - if it's true

See now, I abstained from commenting so I didn't ruin your story.....