Cougar: Stopped by a pussy

Gros Cap, MI -- A 13-year-old boy survived a potentially emotionally scarring cougar attack thanks to a three-week-old kitten that proved to be too cute to resist.

Bart Lloyd was in his family's backyard playing in the snow with his kitten Fluffy when he was confronted by 45-year-old cougar Kim Siegfried of Garfield Township, who had managed to slip into the premises through an unlocked side entrance.

"She had this hungry look on her face and asked me if my parents were home," said Lloyd, who immediately sensed the danger and started toward the house.

Siegfried allegedly charged toward him, but stopped dead in her tracks after spotting the kitten on the porch. She instantly came up to the light orange tabby and started petting it.

The distraction gave the boy enough time to get back into the house and call the police.

"Fortunately, the nearest state trooper was just a minute away," said Miranda Lloyd, the boy's mother.

"Sometimes it's slim pickings for these ladies, especially the ones who are getting on in years," Gore said. "They get desperate, and boys like Bart are easy targets."

When the trooper arrived, the cougar had Fluffy in her lap and was singing Donna Lewis's "I Love You Always Forever." She was handcuffed and remanded into custody, pending charges of child endangerment and attempted sexual abuse.

The kitten reeked of Elizabeth Arden's Red Door but is otherwise unhurt. The boy is shaken up a bit, but is expected to recover from the scary experience.

"I think he's slowly getting over the fact that he was sexually targeted by an older woman, and very grateful his kitten was there to deflect the attention," said the boy's father, Anthony Lloyd.

Sgt. Randall Gore of the Michigan State Police said it's uncommon – but not unheard of – for cougars to go after young boys.

"Sometimes it's slim pickings for these ladies, especially the ones who are getting on in years," Gore said. "They get desperate, and boys like Bart are easy targets."