Fatal mountain lion attack Colorado

[Tobe_B]

Where did you get a box trap that big?!

CPW has them, it’s not my trap.

Any idea what CPW uses to bait the traps? Deer meat?

They’ve been baiting them with road kill deer. Their usual process is to put a carcass and camera out. Once they get lion activity they bring in some more deer and a live trap. The traps all have a cell camera on them so they can immediately come out and go through their collaring process. It was a neat experience to get to tag along. There’s a lot more to the whole story of it, but through their trapping and collaring last winter cow started to really rethink a lot of old beliefs about cat behavior.

 

[Azone]

Anyone else ever wonder how many times they’ve been stalked by a lion? I’m not sure I’d want to know even if I could get a firm number on it.
If a lion wants to kill you, it’s going to kill you is how I’ve always looked at it. Unless you get lucky with a pistol or have someone with you to help fight it off or shoot it your ass is gonna be cat food.
Hopefully it was over in seconds and the woman didn’t have to suffer too much.

 

[mt100gr.]

Anyone else ever wonder how many times they’ve been stalked by a lion? I’m not sure I’d want to know even if I could get a firm number on it.
If a lion wants to kill you, it’s going to kill you is how I’ve always looked at it. Unless you get lucky with a pistol or have someone with you to help fight it off or shoot it your ass is gonna be cat food.
Hopefully it was over in seconds and the woman didn’t have to suffer too much.

About 20 years ago I had a TA in one of my biology classes that was studying lions in MT. He always told me that I'd shit my pants if I knew how many times cats have been close to me doing what I do in the woods. He said if you see a lion, its probably not going to kill you. If a lion sees you, it hasn't made up it's mind yet...

Sad deal for sure. Cats are built to kill.

I have 3 young daughters and we live in the woods with goats, chickens, ducks, etc. Had a lion kill a goat a few years ago. The next night I chased it out of our fenced yard. It was under the trampoline and had passed the play house and swing set to get there.

 

[Hnthrdr]

You sound like half my friends with their crappy excuses!!!!

Okay give me like 3 years… that’s a better timeline lolz

 

[eddielasvegas]

Justin's warden caught this 180 pound tom in a footsnare on the carcass of my brothers goat that he killed the night before...

180 lbs.? That is a durn impressive lion. He's good at what he does.


Eddie

 

[eamyrick]

Those statistics aren't very accurate... I always hear that about sharks (I live in florida) well my chances of getting ripped apart by a bull shark are much higher while swimming in the gulf but these numbers get skewed when you add the population of the entire united states even though 99% of them will have 0% chance of encountering a shark. same goes for lion / bears whatever. Your chances are way high if you live in an area with them and spend time in the woods.

I was thinking about this on a night dive 150 miles off the coast of Texas. These stats mean very little. Even for Alaska and bears. Very different busting brush on a river 20 miles from a road vs the Home Depot in Fairbanks.

 

[Azone]

About 20 years ago I had a TA in one of my biology classes that was studying lions in MT. He always told me that I'd shit my pants if I knew how many times cats have been close to me doing what I do in the woods. He said if you see a lion, it’s probably not going to kill you. If a lion sees you, it hasn't made up it's mind yet...

I agree 100 percent with this.
When I was in high school I was coming back down a cattle trail to get back to my quad one night after a hog hunt and there were cat tracks over my tracks for about 150 yards where it had followed me up. That was the longest 4 mile quad ride of my life that night getting off that mountain and it was definitely the fastest too. And it’s also the time when I made peace with if a cat wants to kill you, you will probably never know it’s going to happen until you are dying.
Every now and then I find myself having a hair standing up on the back of my neck kinda moment in the mountains. It always makes me think a lion is close by watching and sizing my ass up for the next meal.

 

[Pafarm]

Condolences to the family. Honestly cats don’t scare me solo hunting. Yes sure they could get me but in reality I’d like to think I wouldn’t know. I’ve only ever seen one and sure I’ve been close to plenty of others. I just look at it as the cost of doing business.

 

[TaperPin]

Anyone else ever wonder how many times they’ve been stalked by a lion?

One day elk hunting in the timber on a perfectly calm day and snow cover with a little hard crust on it that made a little noise as your foot broke through, I could hear an animal following me, staying just out of view. I assumed it was a coyote hoping for a gut pile. Then a section with really hard crust came up that held significant weight and whatever was following me was heavy enough to break through, definitely not a coyote. A lot of black bears in the area, a few mountain lions, and once in a great while a grizzly. I cut across an opening that would have forced it to come out in the open to keep following me, but it stopped. I was a teenager and didn’t bring binoculars that day, which would have helped look into the trees better. I always wondered what it was, but the way it walked reminded me more of a cat pussy footing along. Who knows. lol

 

[Smokinyotes]

Terrible outcome for the women. Condolences to the family. January 2023 I was calling coyotes when I saw something over my right shoulder 15’ away. A cat was sitting watching the decoy on the fox pro. Then another cat showed up. In about 3 bounds the cats were out sniffing my fox pro. I was lined up on the bigger one but the season was already closed and it’s illegal to use a e caller here. The larger cat picked up my foxpro and started walking to the bush with it. I yelled at it several times, it stopped and stared at me for about 30 seconds dropped the call and just walked into the bush.

 

[betelgeuse]

I had a similar encounter, it was a lion. Stalking me parallel about 20 yards away. I saw it through the trees a couple times. When we reached a small opening it flattened itself and was swishing its tail. Eye to eye.

The end.

True story.

 

[cnelk]

Local news says the CPW is looking for a 3rd Mtn Lion in the area. They already killled 2
Sounds like it may have been a female with cubs.

 

[betelgeuse]

Very similar situation to The Beast In The Garden book. They had been having a lot of encounters near Boulder which ended in a high school runner being killed on a trail above the school. He had been opened up by the lion and it fed on his organs.

Again, great book. All true. Has a lot on insight into lions and the US history of them. It will scare the shit out of you

 

[roosiebull]

I welcome jokes over my death, however I go.

I do think that joking about a stranger’s death on an Internet forum is in poor taste, but I do hope people make jokes about my death, because I would rather people make the situation as light as possible, and I just get tired of how sensitive people are, and looking for a reason to get offended.

I do feel for this lady’s family, and it’s a tragedy regardless of any other circumstances, ironic or not (which none of us can even speculate)

There is absolutely no good that can/will come of this tragedy, and it won’t have any impact on the biomass of lions, it’s just a bummer all around.

At the end of the day, I will never wish ill will on others that have a different perspective than me (not that I’m insinuating she does, because I haven’t a clue) and in this context, it doesn’t matter regardless

 

[prm]

Here's a few that the warden missed in Justin's neighborhood.....

The four I mentioned were taken from that same area a couple months ago. Took the warden less than 48 hours to get those four.

 

[Finch]

I was solo hunting Sarvis Creek in 2020 and walking in well before first light. I heard a lion screaming and making other sounds. It was on the other ridge from me but definitely made the hair on my neck stand up.

A few years prior, I had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting one near Stagecoach Reservoir.

I'm fortunate for both of these encounters. Pretty cool for a VA boy. Oh yeah, we have plenty of people here that "see" lions but it's never documented or photo proof. Not saying they couldn't thrive here in SW VA, I'm just skeptical about their existence here.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I was solo hunting Sarvis Creek in 2020 and walking in well before first light. I heard a lion screaming and making other sounds. It was on the other ridge from me but definitely made the hair on my neck stand up.

A few years prior, I had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting one near Stagecoach Reservoir.

I'm fortunate for both of these encounters. Pretty cool for a VA boy. Oh yeah, we have plenty of people here that "see" lions but it's never documented or photo proof. Not saying they couldn't thrive here in SW VA, I'm just skeptical about their existence here.

I’ve seen one on my farm.

 

[Finch]

I’ve seen one on my farm.

Virginia?

 

[riversidejeep]

Are there any accounts of a person successfully fighting off an adult mountain lion attack? It happens with bears, don't remember hearing anything lion wise.

50 miles north of my A.O. is one of the Redwood National Parks where a old couple were out walking on one of the tourist trails and a lion chopped on the old man, The gal took a ballpoint pen and stabbed it in the eyeball if I remember correctly and eventually beat it off with a log.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Virginia?

Yes, Tazewell County, Thompson Valley, summer 2023. Wish I had a picture, but I was out groundhog hunting and got a clear view of it at 100-150 yards through a 12x scope. It ran up out of a briar patch in our upper pasture. When it first jumped up and started running, my initial thought was “big coyote” and I sat down to try for a shot. It ran left to right across my field of view for maybe 200 yards and stopped to look back at me before running over the hill and into the forest. I could have shot it, but since they officially don’t exist in Virginia, they are never in season. Looked to be a small one, about the size of a German shepherd, but the cat face and long lion tail were very distinct.

In the early 1990s, people I trust saw one run across Route 16 near Plum Creek, just between Thompson Valley Grocery and Frog Level.