Hunter found alive after 19 days in Calif. forest

<img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/dr/hln/www/release/sites/default/files/imagecac... align="right">UKIAH, Calif. (AP) - A 72-year-old hunter who got hurt in a Northern California forest and was lost for 19 days survived the ordeal by eating squirrels and lizards and covering himself with leaves to stay warm, authorities said.

Gene Penaflor of San Francisco was found Saturday in Mendocino National Forest by other hunters who carried him to safety in a makeshift stretcher, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement Sunday.

Penaflor had been missing since Sept. 24 when he didn't meet up with his hunting partner for lunch, sheriff's Detective Andrew Porter told the Ukiah Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/1ekjENg ).

The two had split up for several hours to hunt deer, and during his hike, Penaflor fell and struck his head. He later told detectives he woke up disoriented amid thick fog. He walked for a time but stopped when he didn't know where he was.
<!--break-->
Porter said Penaflor decided to spend the night near a water source to tend to a cut on his chin. The next two days, he saw a helicopter and tried to send a smoke signal but no one saw him.

He said he sustained himself on squirrels, lizards, a snake, berries and algae. To keep dry and warm from the rain and snow, he crawled under a large log and covered himself with leaves and grasses, authorities said.

Read more at http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/10-14-2013/20131014063501_...