A man says he is lucky to be alive after an attack by a mountain lion stopped him in his tracks while hiking in California Monday morning. In his case, ‘man's best friend', is a bear.

Robert Biggs, 69, who often hikes in the Whisky Flats area, came across a mother bear and her cubs, which were about 40 feet from where he was standing.

After watching the bear family for a few minutes he decided to leave them alone and turned to walk back up the trail. As he turned, a mountain lion pounced on him grabbing hold of his backpack with all four paws.

"They usually grab hold of your head with all four paws, but my backpack was up above my head and (the mountain lion) grabbed it instead," Biggs told the Paradise Post.

He wrestled with the cat, even striking it with a rock pick, but it didn't let go.

Before he knew it, the mother bear came from behind and pounced on the cat, tearing its grip from the backpack.

(READ the story from the Paradise Post)

[Editor's note: 2 days later Paradise Post posted a follow-up story quoting experts who examined the backpack and cast doubt on the story.]