Mountain lion reportedly claws man’s leg in southwestern Colorado
By Jesse Sarles
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COLORADO (KCNC) — A 47-year-old man sustained minor injuries when a mountain lion apparently clawed his leg in southwestern Colorado. It happened on Sunday evening in Montezuma County near Lebanon.
The victim’s name is Michael Warren, and he told Colorado Parks and Wildlife it happened just outside his house.
CPW described the attack as follows in a news release:
“He was inside his home when he heard a thud on his front porch, and his dogs inside the house began to bark aggressively. He believed his domestic cats might be fighting on the porch, so he went to investigate.”
“He opened the door to his porch and placed his right leg in the opened door area while he tried to keep his dogs inside the house. Shortly after he placed his leg between the opened door and the porch, he felt something grab his leg. He looked and said he saw a mountain lion run away.”
Video captured by a security camera showed the mountain lion on Warren’s property.
Warren has several puncture wounds on his leg that look to have been caused by mountain lion claws. He opted not to go to the hospital.
Despite elaborate attempts to find it, which included setting traps and using dogs, the mountain lion has not been located. The agency is asking for the public’s help in their investigation. They believe it is a young animal — a “sub-adult” mountain lion.
Two cats of Warren’s recently went missing, and wildlife officials believe that may have had something to do with the mountain lion coming to the home on Sunday. Last month a mountain lion apparently killed some chickens and a cat in a nearby area.
Mountain lions rarely attack humans. In Colorado there have been 26 known instances of it happening since 1990. Humans were killed in three of those attacks.
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