The Weekend Got Cronked

Gotta keep it short...it's my writing weekend and there's a lot to write!

Best of the week: A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off a mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming. Now that's a man's man!

The adult male lion, described as emaciated and showing other signs of starvation, was later killed by wildlife officials after it attacked a dog brought in to track it. Dustin Britton, a mechanic and ex-Marine, said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes. The 6-foot, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him. "It batted me three or four times with its front paws, and as quick as I hit it with that saw, it just turned away."

Only eight cases of mountain lions acting aggressively toward humans have been documented in Wyoming over the last decade. Given the animal's low body weight — male lions in Wyoming typically weigh 140 to 150 pounds — it may have attacked Britton out of desperation and hunger, thought it is unclear why the animal would be starving, since Britton's campsite, near the North Fork of the Shoshone River, was in an area heavily populated by the lion's typical prey — elk, deer and bighorn sheep.

The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm. "You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."

After the confrontation, Britton, his wife, and two children decided to spend the night in their pop-up camper rather than risk packing up with the lion still on the loose. Because leaving and being safe isn't always worth leaving camping gear behind. The family later carried on with their vacation, camping at sites in Wyoming and Montana, looking to press their luck.

Worst of the week: Park officials say two buses have collided at Walt Disney World, leaving a dozen visitors with minor injuries. A Florida Highway Patrol report says one Disney bus rear-ended another yesterday afternoon. There were about 50 people were on both buses and the injured were taken to four nearby hospitals for treatment, where they had to wait for 20-40 minutes from that point in line. The accident comes 11 days after a 21-year-old monorail pilot died when another train backed into his train. The park's vast transit system shuttles thousands of visitors around the attraction each day, but only recently started injuring them.

And just moments ago, broadcast legend Walter Cronkite returned to the air, as an obit. Expect tributes and commentary through the weekend...