Steven Murrow was hiking with his family Sunday along the road to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park.
He said the Victoria Overlook was packed around 3:15 p.m., with the parking lot full. Near the trailhead, he heard a child scream.
It was a pretty bad scream, but I just assumed it was a kid acting up," Murrow said in an interview.
Then he saw a woman holding a small child, who was crying, wrapped in a blanket. He said he passed another group on the trail who told him to be careful. The group told him they saw the child get dragged "into the woods by a cougar or wolf, and the dad ran after and saved the kid."
https://twitter.com/steven_murrow/status/1947073031161122989
Murrow said he found the child's shoes and pants, which had been torn off by the cougar.
The child survived the attack and is now recovering.
"Hurricane Ridge at the Olympic National Park is no joke," Murrow posted with a video on X. "Some kid just got attacked by a cougar and drugged off into the woods! We literally walked by 5 minutes later as the family was running away."
Despite witnessing the aftermath, Murrow said he and his family didn't feel unsafe. They finished their hike, packed up for the day and left.
"It's crazy to think about, you're right there, and there's a wild animal, but at the same time, that's their home. The animals live there," Murrow said Tuesday. "We're the tourists.
The 4-year-old was released from the hospital Monday, Harborview spokesperson Susan Gregg said.
Meanwhile, park rangers tracked the cougar with the help of a GPS collar. Rangers killed the animal Monday.
Cougar attacks are rare in Washington, with only two people killed by the apex predators in the past century.
Seattle Times staff reporter Kai Uyehara contributed reporting to this story.
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