Current Conditions
26°F - SUNNY
Tests find no cougar blood on man's knife
Game Commission says blood on knife was from a human. Sadsbury farmer sticks by story of cat attack.
Lancaster New Era
Published: Oct 30, 2008
11:10 EST
Lancaster
By AD CRABLE, Staff Writer
Human blood, and no animal blood, has been found on the knife of a Sadsbury Township man who says he stabbed a cougar in self defense near his home on Oct. 9, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Laboratory tests performed at East Stroudsburg University found only human blood on the knife, the agency said.

"If this knife was allegedly used to stab a mountain lion or any other being that bleeds, some other form of blood would have been found on it," said Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser.

Added Dennis Warfel, investigating wildlife conservation officer from southern Lancaster County: "There is no evidence whatsoever of an attack occurring."

Samuel Fisher, 42, of 92 Windy Top Road, has said he saw three mountain lions on the afternoon of Oct. 9, following repeated sightings in the area.

He said he shot one and was following its blood trail when another jumped him from a tree, causing cuts on his chest, arms and face. He said he wrestled with the mountain lion and stabbed it three times with a pocketknife before it ran off.

Blood samples of what Fisher identified as the blood trail were taken at four locations and sent to a laboratory. They were found to be a substance other than blood, the Game Commission reported.

Game Commission officials have called the incident a hoax and have said they are considering bringing charges against Fisher for making false statements.

Warfel could give no timetable as to when the agency would decide whether to charge Fisher.
Related Topics

"We're going to continue our investigation," Warfel said.

He said he was still awaiting test results from state police on what substance made up the alleged blood trail.

Fisher, meanwhile, continues to insist he is telling the truth.

Contacted by phone Wednesday, Fisher said he was not surprised human blood was found on his knife.

"I'm sure it was mine," he said. "I was dripping blood from my scratches. My hands were soaked with blood that night."

He added that the lack of cougar blood on the knife left him perplexed.

"I surely figured there would be some cat blood on it, too," Fisher said.

"I wish the Game Commission would completely drop this whole thing," he said. "I'm sick and tired of it, and I'm not changing my story one bit."

Mountain lion sightings in the area continue to be reported.

Warfel said on Tuesday a man near Christiana reported his wife saw a dark-colored cougar in a field on the edge of woods. Warfel said it was about 10 miles from where Fisher alleged he was attacked.


Staff writer Ad Crable can be reached at acrable@LNPnews.com or 481-6029.

Recent Posts
Showing 5 most recent comments out of 12 total TalkBack comments about this article
View full comments | Comment on this article
QUOTE (Lancaster Online @ Oct 30 2008, 11:50 AM)
Post your thoughts and comments about this article.
to all the unbelievers out there that there are no cougars in pa, i have been hunting northcentral pa for over 45 years, and have seen every animal in united states, hunted 18 different states and canadian provinces..One day while spring turkey hunting in clearfield county with 3 seasoned hunters, we saw a large black cat on road , hurried to it and it ran only yards from us, i knew what i saw, and asked the others, what they saw, all of us together said a mountain lion, black panther...i am an outfitter in north central and i am a qualifed expert on animals in united states..called the pgc. they said shouldn't drink and hunt..so much for there investigation..year later my wife, who also knows her animals saw one run across the road in front of her, it was a brown one, i got on pc and pulled up cougars, she said that is what it was..i phoned the local dcnr office and receptionist said that one of the workers saw it earlier that week..pgc was again called and he said shoot it and then he would believe it..If you have kept track of the deer herd extinction plan back in early 2000, Merlin Benner "biologist dcnr" made the quote that they should stock "cougars and wolves" to control the deer population in the quehanna wilderness area... maybe they did ...He is no longer with the dcnr..retired????..you have to understand the pgc, they are in deep trouble with license sales declining and to admit that there are mountain lions in this state would only keep the people from buying hunting licenses because they would be afraid to go into the woods or let their children in fear of being attack..they will never ever own up to cougars being in this state unless some one shoots one, then they would be arrested for shooting an endangered species...I have know amish for 30 years and never known them to be liars, but could be..known the pgc to be liars, just look at the so called harvest figures and deer per sq. mile..can't wait to see what the latest blood test will bring..probable never hear if it was cougar blood..amen..
outfitter
Thanks outfitter for your information. Keep an eye open for other articles about this topic and then just copy and paste what you just posted, as a comment on those articles.
slyasafox
QUOTE (slyasafox @ Oct 31 2008, 06:54 PM)
Thanks outfitter for your information. Keep an eye open for other articles about this topic and then just copy and paste what you just posted, as a comment on those articles.


yea, copy and paste....keep giving us 'more of the same'. :-D
spaylady
QUOTE (spaylady @ Oct 31 2008, 07:21 PM)
yea, copy and paste....keep giving us 'more of the same'. :-D

Wow, you got foul language.
slyasafox
QUOTE (slyasafox @ Nov 1 2008, 10:33 AM)
Wow, you got foul language.

Maybe its cuz of the men in gray suits controlling my brain. Shiver.
spaylady
Top Ads