A Northern California hiker says he is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by a mountain lion -- and saved by a bear, the Paradise Post reports.

Robert Biggs, 69, of Paradise, tells his hometown paper that he had stumbled upon a mother bear, a yearling and a newborn cub while hiking Monday above Whiskey Flats.

He says he watched the bears from about 40 feet, then turned to slip away when a mountain lion pounced, grabbing his backpack with all four paws.

Biggs tells the Post's Trevor Warner that he wrestled the cat, stabbed it with a rock pick, but to no avail -- until the mother bear jumped in and tore the lion's grip from the backpack.

After a 15-second battle, Biggs tells the newspaper, the cat ran off, and the bear ambled away. "They're pretty territorial," he says of the bears.

Biggs says the lion had likely been stalking the newborn when Biggs appeared.

He suffered bite marks, scratches and bruises to his arm, but was otherwise uninjured, the Post says.