
Kelsi Butt, 4, of Blackfoot, Idaho shows some of the wounds she suffered when a mountain lion grabbed her and tried to drag her away.
The Butt family — dad Israel, mom Kera and their three children, son Kegan, 8, and daughters Maylie, 7, and Kelsi — were at a family reunion, camping with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, near Green Canyon Hot Springs, east of Rexburg, Idaho.
The weekend of outdoor fun took an unexpected turn Friday night, when Kelsi was attacked by a 90-pound, young male mountain lion that had been lurking in the wooded area.
"We usually have family reunions up there, camping at Hot Springs Campground," Israel Butt told Gephardt Daily, "but this year we decided to go higher up."
The area was a little more remote, with fewer people around than at the campground. Kelsi's mom thought she saw the cat earlier in the day and mentioned it to other family members. But the woods are full of wildlife, no one else had seen the animal, and cats generally avoid human beings anyway, so there seemed to be no cause for concern.














Comment: See also this other recent report: Jogger uses rock to battle cougar in attack on Vancouver Island, Canada