FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Twitter lit up with reactions after news got out about the trail runner in Colorado who fought off a mountain lion and then killed it with his bare hands. The man, who is in his 30s, will never have to buy a beer again in his life, said some.
State wildlife officials were skeptical when they first got the report. But the story given by the trail runner matches up with all available evidence.
The Denver Post explained that he had been running in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of Fort Collins when he heard something behind him.
Rebecca Ferrell, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said the runner did everything right: He locked eyes with the cat. He yelled at the animal and waved his arms over his head to make himself look bigger.
The year-old lion pounced anyway.
The trail runner said he blocked the cat with his forearms when the cat went for his head and neck. The lion bit him on the face and clamped its fangs on the man’s wrist. It wouldn’t let go.
Picking up a rock with his free hand, the trail runner pounded the cat in the head. He then put the lion in a headlock and wrestled with it.
When able to get his hand out of the cat’s jaws, he counterattacked. He jumped on the lion’s back and, using all his appendages, choked the animal to death. He then hiked to his car and drove himself to a hospital.
