What is it? A bear, a mountain lion, a bobcat? How can you tell, and how should you react? You look up and meet the intent stare of a large cat. In the following days, wildlife officials set up cameras that picked up the images of two young mountain lions at night in the area where the fight happened.You’re hiking in the Colorado Rockies, enjoying the fresh air and just-rising sun, when suddenly you hear a snarl from a tree above you. Kauffman said it had been cannibalized by other mountain lions. Several people helped him get to safety and the hospital.Ĭolorado wildlife officials found the mountain lion’s corpse. Kauffman ran up the trail worried that the cat’s mother might jump out at him. The lion struggled for another three minutes before letting go of his wrist and falling back. Fearing that the cat’s back paws would gouge his “nether parts,” he worked a knee on top of its back legs to pin it down, and, with his other foot, stepped on the animal’s neck. He climbed on top of the lion, which was on its back. Kauffman maneuvered around the cat he described as being about 4 feet long and 3 feet tall, weighing 50 pounds. “My fear response turned into a fight response,” he said. The sound was disturbing, he said.Īt this point, a primal realization took over. It began grinding its teeth on his wrist and he feared he would lose the use of his hand. He recalled seeing the mountain lion’s claws retract and re-extend. Kauffman realized that the cat’s claws that cut his lip could also blind his eyes. But with his wrist in the animal’s jaws, he wasn’t able to get the leverage to do enough damage to the cat to get it off of him. He picked up a large rock and pummeled the lion in the back of the head. “I was really surprised by the sounds of it,” Kauffman said. Kauffman grabbed two sticks and stabbed the cat’s neck with them. “It was thrashing and it had my wrist in its jaws.” “I was screaming all along, doing my barbarian yell,” Kauffman said, chuckling. Kauffman managed to get his hands in front of the animal, but it latched onto his wrist while clawing his face and neck. He locked eyes with the wild cat, yelled and waved his arms over his head to make himself look bigger.īut the mountain lion lunged for his face anyway. Kauffman said he heard something moving in the pine needles and turned around. RELATED: Colorado trail runner attacked by mountain lion choked cat to death with hands, arms and feet Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu

Cat attacks runner