When you hear the word "predator", what do you think of?
I would imagine that many of you are picturing a Great White in dark water,
a tiger in thick, green jungle, or even a Grizzly in a dense forest.
And certainly, those are predators as fearsome and as dangerous as anything you might encounter on Earth.
But I think there's another variety of predators --
those that are human in form, accompanied by all of the malice and evil that can't be ascribed
to the aforementioned cold-blooded killers.
And so, for this series, you're gonna hear mix of stories from each of those categories.
In either case, the encounters you're about to hear are highly disturbing.
Viewer discretion is advised.
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Just north of downtown LA is an area known as Griffith Park.
Although bordered on all sides by the LA city streets
and often compared to Central Park in New York,
Griffith Park is considered to be much more rugged and untamed than Central Park.
It has a total area of over 4,000 acres and lies in the East end of the Santa Monica mountains.
So the entire area has hills and valleys and forests and even some caves.
The park is even large enough that despite being bordered by LA on all sides,
a variety of different animals inhabit the area.
One day, a man who was living in LA decided to go for a run in Griffith Park
on one of the hiking trails that went through it.
The trail he planned to run was an eight-mile loop starting in a parking lot,
so he was gonna park his car and run the loop back to where he parked.
So he takes off running and about the halfway point,
he realized that he misjudged the amount of sunlight that he had left --
the sun was going down a lot faster than he expected.
What he figured was that the sun would probably go down around the 5 1/2-mile (8.85 km) mark,
leaving him to run the remaining 2 1/2 miles (4 km) in the dark.
Now, he was aware of the fact that animals lived in the park because of the hills and wooded areas,
but he wasn't all that concerned because it is a really popular park that usually has lots of people around.
But as the sun went down, he started to hear the sound of something following him.
Initially, whatever it was wasn't close, but he was definitely aware of its presence.
Then, around the 6-mile (9.66 km) mark, he saw something in the dark woods ahead of him.
Now, really nervous, he knew he needed to make loud noises and make himself appear larger
to scare off whatever it was.
And this worked and whatever it was seemed to have gotten scared and disappeared into the woods.
Then, around the 7-mile (11.27 km) mark, he heard the noise again,
and this time, it was accompanied by the sounds of several other animals
that were all making yelping and cackling noises.
So now he's in complete panic mode and he starts sprinting the final mile of the trail as fast as he could.
The entire time, he can hear the animals following him close behind.
He finally makes it back to his car and rips his keys out of his pocket,
unlocks his door and jumps into his car and slams the door.
Less than 10 seconds later, an entire pack of coyotes crept out of the darkness
of the forest and into view.
As he caught his breath, he counted 10 to 12 coyotes just standing there waiting for him
and it seemed as though they were trying to wait and see if he would come back out of his car.
They only finally scattered when he started the engine of his car.
You'll never know whether or not they would've actually attacked him,
but it's safe to say that just the potential for it to have happened was a super scary experience,
considering how many of them there were.
One day around Halloween, a group of friends got together
and were telling ghost stories to get in the spirit of the season.
One girl in the group said she was gonna tell a story about her parents' first date,
but was hesitant to tell it because it was actually a true story.
It would take a bit of convincing, but after prodding her enough, she agreed to tell the story.
Her parents' first date was a little bit awkward, but otherwise, a nice time.
So around the time that it was time to say goodnight and go home for the night,
her dad suggested to her mom that they go for a midnight hike up the nearby Provo Canyon.
Provo Canyon is a canyon to the east of Utah Valley and has beautiful, rocky hills
on either side of the Provo River.
Her dad had done quite a bit of rock climbing in the area and knew the trail well, so despite it being dark,
they'd have no problem navigating the trail in the light of the full moon.
After pulling into the parking lot at the mouth of the canyon,
they got out of their cars and started hiking under the dark, starry sky.
At some point, her dad started to get a bad feeling
because the pathway up ahead was gonna pass through some trees,
the light of the moon and the stars would be obscured and they would be walking in almost pitch-black darkness.
But he ignored the feeling and kept going.
Her mom would later say that she had the same feeling right around the same time,
but because she didn't know the trail as well as her husband did,
she ignored the feelings as well and just kept going.
About a minute later, her dad got the feeling again and ignored it once again,
and then started walking further into the wooded area.
As he was walking, his foot hit something soft in the middle of the trail.
Under the darkness of the trees, they couldn't make out what this soft thing was,
but the bad feeling they were getting was back and stronger than ever.
So instead of trying to figure out what it was, they both agreed to just run out of there.
They would make it out of there without issue, and then after another little while of dating,
they eventually got married.
Years later, after already being married for some time,
they were watching an interview with the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.
In their interview, Ted Bundy was asked about the closest he'd ever been to being caught.
He would go on to explain that one night, he lured a girl into Provo Canyon
and just after killing her, he heard people coming up the trail towards the body.
He didn't have enough time to move the body, so instead, he quickly hid in the trees and watched as they approached.
He then watched the couple walk into the body and then weirdly turn right back around
and walk back down out of the trail.
They were horrified because there's no telling what would've happened
had they stayed and examined the body a little bit further.
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government
that is responsible for studying the landscape of the country,
its natural resources and any hazards that threaten it.
Starting in the summer of 1975, a woman named Cynthia worked with the Alaskan branch of the US Geological Survey.
The area Cynthia was working was somewhere known as the Yukon-Tanana Upland
that is so remote that she and some other geologists had to be dropped in by helicopter.
During Cynthia's second summer working, the budget was too small to even afford a helicopter
and so the group had to backpack into the area a week at a time.
The following year in 1977, the budget was increased and they were able to afford a helicopter once again.
Five geologists were flown in that year and after getting transported to the 6,000-square mile (9,656 km) big delta,
they split up and mapped alone.
And despite the isolation of the Alaskan wilderness,
Cynthia always felt quite comfortable being alone.
Every summer that the group worked in Alaska, they would see a variety of wildlife, including bears.
The first bear she saw was a Black bear, walking slowly in distance at the end of a meadow on a mountain.
She immediately froze when she saw it, but the bear didn't see her and slowly disappeared into the forest.
On another occasion, Cynthia was busy looking down at the ground for chips of rock, to take back with her
when all of a sudden, she heard some rustling.
She lifted her head and saw a Black bear about 40 feet (12.19 m) away,
walking on the trail she was on straight toward her.
As soon as the bear noticed her, it immediately took off into the bushes.
This was reassuring because it seemed to confirm the reputation Black bears have about being afraid of people.
During her first two years working in Alaska, she'd only seen Black bears.
It wasn't until that third summer that she saw her first Grizzly bear from the helicopter
as they were flying into their drop-off point.
She considered herself fortunate to not have encountered any in person.
because Grizzlies are much larger and are considered to be more dangerous and unpredictable.
Despite these encounters, though, Cynthia's project chief always discouraged the group about carrying firearms
because she thought that guns added more danger than they prevented.
She figured that a wounded or angry bear would be far more dangerous than a frightened one
and so no one in the group carried a firearm.
And no one was all that worried anyway, because they all carried walkie-talkies to keep in touch throughout the day.
Everyone was also taught to try not to surprise a bear or get in between a mother and her cubs.
In addition to those safety precautions, Cynthia always tried to make lots of noise as she walked,
alerting any nearby animals and giving them a chance to run before running into them.
And for two summers, this worked perfectly.
At 8:00 AM on August 13th, 1977,
Cynthia was dropped off on a rocky brush-covered ridge, about 60 miles (96.56 km) South of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Her goal was to take notes on the geology of the area and collect samples with her rock hammer,
and then record the area where she took the samples.
That day, she was wearing khaki work pants, a cotton shirt, a pair of sturdy hiking boots,
and she had a rucksack to carry all of her supplies.
In the left pocket of her rucksack was her walkie-talkie, covered by a flap and buckle.
And in her right pocket was her lunch of baked beans, canned fruit, juice, and crackers.
Over the course of the day, standard procedure was to make contact with the other geologists in the area
and base camp by walkie-talkie several times.
Then, at the end of the day, she was supposed to get picked up by the helicopter at the base of an eight mile ridge
where it met a river.
She was pleasantly surprised to find that the area she would be serving had a small bulldoze trail
that might have been used for logging at some point,
making her walking a little easier through the brush.
The area was in was also slightly more populated than the usual areas they surveyed
because there were a few small cabins, 15 to 20 miles (24.14 to 32.17 km) downstream.
That morning, she didn't expect to see any bears because in addition to the area having a few more people than usual,
it was really dry and rocky.
You'd expect that if you were going to see a bear, it would be towards the end of the day, near the river.
Cynthia continued down the trail, chipping away at rocks as she went,
slipping samples into her rucksack when all of a sudden,
there was a loud crash in the brush, 10 feet (3.05 m) away.
She was relieved to see that it was just a small Black bear, standing up in the bushes, looking directly at her.
She knew she needed to get the upper hand right away, and so she immediately shouted commandingly at the bear,
yelling at it to leave her alone, but the bear stood there motionless, just glaring at her.
Then, she clapped her hands and yelled even louder, but the bear didn't move at all.
Instead of turning and running, the bear started walking slowly toward her,
not breaking eye contact the entire time.
Cynthia yelled and waved and clapped wildly,
and even banged her rock hammer on the rocks, making as much noise as she could
to intimidate the bear.
But this Black bear was not acting like a Black bear was supposed to.
Starting to get nervous, Cynthia took a step back to elevate herself to seem more dominant,
but the bear darted around the outcropping beside her and then around her.
In the next split second, she felt a massive blow to her back
and then she was thrown forward and landed face down on the ground.
Then, she froze, deliberately remembering being taught that
playing dead was supposed to cause an attacking bear to lose interest.
But instead of losing interest, Cynthia felt a stabbing pain
as the bear bit deep into her shoulder.
Then, she felt herself getting shaken violently in the bear's mouth.
The bear then stopped for a second, almost as if it was checking to see if she was still alive.
Cynthia tried to lie perfectly still, trying to confirm to the bear that she was no longer living
so it would leave her alone.
After a few moments, hoping that was the end of the attack,
she slowly reached her left arm back towards the left pocket of her rucksack to get her radio.
She felt around, trying to open the pocket, but the strap was buckled too tight
and she couldn't get it off without taking her rucksack off her back.
Detecting this movement, the bear bit into the flesh on her upper right arm
and Cynthia felt her flesh being torn and the teeth against her bones.
She also knew that unless the bear left her alone, there would be no way for her to call for help
while it was attacking.
After chewing her right shoulder and arm, the bear started to bite into her head
and Cynthia could actually hear the sound of crunching as the bear's teeth grazed her skull.
As the attack continued, she realized how powerless she was.
Although this was just a small Black bear, it was just way too strong to fight.
Even worse, despite the strength of the bear's attack,
Cynthia still felt very strong and very conscious.
Meaning she knew that this would be a long and horrible ordeal
until she finally bled to death from the wounds.
She was even thinking that this had to be the worst way to die imaginable
and considered shaking her head to try to get the bear to kill her more quickly.
Eventually, the bear grabbed her by her mangled right arm and began dragging her down the ridge.
Every 20 feet (6.1 m) or so, the bear stopped and panted into her right ear as it rested.
And this would continue for almost 30 minutes as the bear pulled her over rocks and threw bushes by her arm.
Finally, between her 20-pound pack and her 130 pounds of body weight,
the bear needed to take a more substantial break.
It walked a few feet and then sat down to rest, still watching her closely.
Cynthia knew that this was the chance she needed.
Not only had the bear stopped attacking, but the side of her body the walkie-talkie was on
was facing away from the bear.
She slowly reached back and felt that the buckle that prevented her from grabbing her walkie-talkie before
had been ripped off at some point during the struggle.
She then pulled the radio out of the pocket, snapped the switch,
pulled up the antenna and then said loudly,
"Ed, this is Cynthia. Come quick. I'm being eaten by a bear."
And she specifically used the word "eaten" because she was convinced that this was no longer just a mauling
or a bear playing with her.
She repeated the message once again, and then called out her location
but midway through her sentence, the bear jumped to its feet and attacked the arm that was holding the radio.
This time, she screamed in pain as her remaining good arm was mangled in the bear's mouth.
This was her last chance of survival.
Cynthia had done everything she could to save herself
and she had no idea whether or not anyone had actually heard her call.
She didn't hear the normal static or return call and knew that the antenna hadn't been extended fully.
She was also down in a ravine and there were endless mountain ridges between her and the camp radio.
Cynthia knew that there was very little chance now, and so accepting her circumstances,
she started screaming and yelling as the bear ate at her --
no longer trying to hide her natural reactions.
The bear then started sniffing down her thighs and calves
and Cynthia wondered if it would start on her lower body next.
Too scared to look, though, she kept her eyes fixed on the ground directly in front of her face.
Then, she felt her pack being torn open and the sound of cans crunching in the bear's mouth.
As the bear ate her lunch, it gave her a brief reprieve from the assault
to think about the horrible situation she was in.
Despite everything, her senses and her mind were clear.
Cynthia thought about how this was going to be the way that she died
and how much she wanted to live and return to her husband.
Another 10 minutes passed, and then she heard the faint sound of the helicopter in the distance.
Then, it got closer and circled around and then horribly,
she heard it disappear again in the distance.
Cynthia wondered if it was maybe just dropping off another geologist or if it was just a routine refuel
or maybe they had actually heard her call.
Unfortunately, the helicopter had not come close enough to scare off the bear,
and so it continued to slowly eat Cynthia alive.
Then, she heard the helicopter again.
This time, it came closer and closer, and then it seemed like it was hovering right over her.
So she kicked her legs violently, trying to signal to them that she was still alive.
She figured that if it was hovering, it must have seen her. But then again,
the sound of the helicopter grew distance and eventually,
there was nothing but silence.
After giving up all hope of being rescued and then allowing herself to think that she might actually be saved,
she was devastated to hear the helicopter fly away once again.
As she laid there, absolutely crushed, she realized that the bear was gone.
The helicopter had at least managed to scare the bear away
and then miraculously, about 10 minutes later, she heard the helicopter return a third time.
This time, she heard the engines shut off nearby, and then the voices of people calling out for her.
Cynthia yelled back and directed them to her location.
The pilot, Ed, was the first to spot her and after getting two of the other geologists
that carried her up the hill and lifted her into the backseat of the helicopter.
It was at this point that Cynthia knew she would live.
Despite how badly mangled her arms had been,
the bear hadn't attacked her torso, so all of her organs were intact.
She just had to keep calm and let the doctors take care of her.
But she also knew deep down that her body would never be the same from that day forward.
Cynthia was first flown to the army base Fort Greely
where she was given blood and morphine.
Then, she was taken to Fairbanks and taken right into emergency surgery.
Her left arm was unfortunately too badly damaged and had to be amputated above the elbow.
In an attempt to say her right arm, surgeons grafted a vein from her left thigh
to keep blood circulating into the damaged tissue.
Over the course of five hours, four surgeons worked on Cynthia,
removing irreparably damaged tissue,
cleaning her wounds and removing leaves, rocks and dirt from the area.
The following day, she was flown to San Francisco where her husband met her in the hospital.
Unfortunately, after days of trying to save her right arm, it would need to be removed as well.
A blood clot had formed and the pulse that she initially felt slowly disappeared
and the arm went cold.
Cynthia remained in the hospital for six weeks following the attack and spent much of this time
thinking about that fateful day.
At first, she wondered why she hadn't bled to death despite her injuries.
Doctors would explain that because she was young in an excellent physical condition,
her arteries were young and elastic, allowing them to constrict and cut off blood flow.
She also found out that her distress call had been heard by the pilot's wife at base camp.
The reason that the helicopter had flown away the first time was that the pilot couldn't search effectively
while also trying to fly the helicopter, so we had to pick up another person.
It flew away the second time after spotting her because the area she was in was so rugged
that they knew they would need a third person to carry her out of the ravine.
Finally, Cynthia thought about why she'd been attacked.
She figured that there were three possible reasons.
First, the bear was asleep and she startled it when she walked into the area.
Second, there were cubs in the area and the bear saw her as a threat.
And third, the bear was just really hungry and Cynthia was prey.
Regardless of the reason the bear initially attacked, it's clear that at some point,
it did decide that it was going to eat her anyway.
In the aftermath of the attack, Cynthia made a miraculous recovery.
The bites on her head healed and the hair grew back and covered the scars.
Her right side was covered with new skin and her left stump was strong and had good range of motion.
She was fitted with artificial arms and resumed her work as a geologist
and with only minor adaptations to some of her instruments,
incredibly, she was able to work just as efficiently as she had before.
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