I was astounded but not surprised to hear that a mountain lion attack had occurred near a place I used to live. In the story, a man had been out jogging alone and heard a sound behind him. He turned to see a mountain lion. Yikes!
I had the experience once of walking through a nature preserve where the animals were living in their natural habitats but were separated from humans by a fence. Coming across a mountain lion, I was surprised at how big it was and how it blended so well into the background. Had it not moved, I would not have seen it. It was less than thirty feet away.
So this guy, whose identity has not been revealed as of yet, somehow was able to overpower this year-old male mountain lion and take it out though in doing that he suffered some nasty bites and serious scratches from the lion's claws. An absolutely amazing story.
Should he capitalize on this, he will make a lot of dough. But, he is said to be serverely traumatized by the encounter and may not choose to ever go public. I'm sure he is wrestling with ambush and survival issues that only he can know of directly, issues that for the rest of us must remain in the realms of conjecture and theory. What goes through one's mind at that moment? When your life is in extreme danger? And even more compelling, how do you take a creature of that size down, without weapons, in desperate close quarters combat?
Mr. Puma, Cougar, Mountain Lion.
Ian Williams- Unsplash.com
Even more poignant to me is the fact that I know the area where the attack took place. Not down to the exact few yards where the battle occurred, but I have walked that very series of trails, which together are called ‘Horsetooth Open Space’. It sits just outside of Fort Collins, Colorado and the reason it is called 'Horsetooth' is that is the name of a prominent rock that looks like a horse's tooth. It's a landmark that you can easily see from town that lies in the foothills just west of Fort Collins.
Now even though Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Aurora, and Colorado Springs are highly urban cities, they lie snug up against the Front Range of the Rockies and animals that roam the Rockies occasionally wander into these cities or are seen on their outskirts. While you're unlikely to get into trouble as part of a noisy group, singles or couples quietly walking or running on soft, pine needle covered trails.....
.....you know what I mean. It's a bit nerve wracking.
Fact is, mountain lions go where the deer go because they're hungry and bears get hungry too so you never know and even though you've been at a convenience store on busy Harmony Road a half hour ago a short drive from there will take you into the mountains for a little hike and bro, you're not in the city anymore. You're in shared territory.
A hundred years ago it wasn't like this. The mountain lion, bear, and wolf populations had been pushed back into mountainous or forested recesses far away from populated areas but I've heard from the folks up in Wisconsin that all three are coming back. Same is true for Colorado, and most of the rest of the U.S., I imagine. I know California has issues.
So, if you don't want to be in hand to claw combat with a creature that doesn't understand that you're just a guy out for a run and don't mean 'em no harm, you might want to jog with a group or stick to the jogging trails in town.
Hope the jogger guy is all right. And if he's ever up to sharing, I'd love to hear his story.