A solo hiker who authorities believe was killed by a mountain lion on a remote trail in Colorado on New Year’s Day was not the first person to encounter the big cat in the area in recent weeks.
Gary Messina said he was running along the same trail one dark November morning when his headlamp caught the glint of two eyes in the nearby brush. Messina used his phone to snap a quick photo before the mountain lion rushed him.
Messina said he threw the phone at the animal, kicked dirt and screamed as the lion tried to get behind him. After a few agonizing minutes he broke out a bat-sized stick, hit it over the head and ran away, he said.
A woman’s body found Thursday on the same Crossier Mountain trail “had injuries consistent with a mountain lion attack,” said Kara Van Hoose of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. An autopsy is scheduled for next week, said Rafael Moreno of the Larimer County Coroner’s Office.
Early warning and detection of criminals
Late Thursday wildlife officials located and killed two mountain lions in the area — one at the scene and the other nearby. A necropsy will help determine whether one or both of those animals attacked the woman and whether they had neurological diseases such as rabies or avian flu.
The search for a third mountain lion reported in the area continued Friday, Van Hoos said. Nearby trails remained closed as the hunt continued. Van Hoos said circumstances will determine whether that lion is also killed.
Based on the aggressiveness of the animal that attacked him on Nov. 11, Messina suspects it may be the same animal that killed the woman on New Year’s Day.
“I had to fight it because it was basically trying to humiliate me,” Messina told The Associated Press. “I was scared for my life and I couldn’t escape. I tried to back up and it would try to hit me.”
A 32-year-old man from nearby Glen Haven, Colorado, reported his encounter the day after to wildlife officials who posted signs to warn people of the animal on trails in the Crossier Mountain area northeast of Estes Park, Van Hoose said. The signs were later removed, she said.
Mountain lions do not often attack people
Lion sightings are common in the mountains east of Rocky Mountain National Park, Van Hoose said, because it provides good habitat for the big cats: It’s rugged with dense forest, rocky outcroppings and lots of elevation changes.
Yet attacks on humans by the animals are rare, and the last suspected fatal encounter in Colorado was in 1999, when a 3-year-old boy disappeared in the wilderness and his torn clothing was found more than three years later. In 1997, a 10-year-old boy was mauled to death by a lion while hiking with family members in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Two hikers spotted the victim’s body on the trail from about 100 yards away Thursday afternoon, Van Hoos said. A mountain lion was nearby and threw stones to scare them away. One of the pedestrians, a medic, attended to the victim but could not find a pulse, Van Hoose said.
The victim will be publicly identified after an autopsy by the coroner, who is also expected to provide a cause of death.
Mountain lions – also known as cougars, pumas or catamounts – can weigh up to 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and be more than six feet (1.8 meters) long. They mainly eat deer.
Colorado has an estimated 3,800-4,400 animals, which are classified as big game species in the state and can be hunted.
Back slowly. don’t run
Thursday’s killing would be the fourth fatal mountain lion attack in North America in the past decade, and the 30th since 1868, according to the California-based Mountain Lion Foundation. It has not been confirmed that all of them died from mountain lion attacks.
Most attacks occur during the day and when people are active in lion territories, indicating the animals are not looking for victims, according to the advocacy group. About 15% of attacks are fatal.
“As more people live, work and play in areas that overlap wildlife habitat, interactions may increase, not because mountain lions are becoming more aggressive, but because the overlap is increasing,” said Byron Wakeworth, the foundation’s chief conservation officer.
To reduce the risk of traveling in groups, keep children close and avoid mornings and evenings when lions are most active, Wakeworth said. During an encounter, make eye contact with the lion, make yourself look bigger and back away slowly; Don’t run away, he said.
Last year in Northern California, two brothers were attacked by a lion trying to fight them. One brother was killed.
