Is the writer here guilty of hyperbole? Is this an incredible tale of survival?

DENVER — Last Monday, Travis Kauffman went for a run near Fort Collins, Colorado. Little did he know his workout would include suffocating a mountain lion.

“I feel like I should go buy a bunch of lottery tickets,” he said.

Authorities on Thursday identified Kauffman as the runner who won a fight-to-the-death struggle last week after the cat ambushed him along the trail.

Kauffman — a 31-year-old who moved to Fort Collins about five years ago to live a more active, outdoor lifestyle — described the nightmarish experience in a February 11 interview with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A video of that interview was shown to reporters on Thursday, and Kauffman repeated his account at a press conference afterward.

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Runner kills mountain lion that attacked him on trail

“It was just pure adrenaline,” he told reporters. “There was a certain point where I just kind of imagined being stuck on this hillside and eventually just having a cat gnaw at me, which is a creepy way to go. But, for the most part, the adrenaline just kept kicking in at those moments.”

Runner: My heart sank into my stomach
Kauffman was running in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space on February 4 when he heard the rustling of pine needles somewhere behind him.

He typically wouldn’t have turned his head to look, assuming the noise belonged to a smaller “woodland creature.”

“But in the back of my mind there’s always that thought that it could be something else,” Kauffman said. “And that something else this time happened to be a mountain lion.”

“I just kind of had my heart sink into my stomach a little bit,” Kauffman said.

The cat was about 10 feet away, said Kauffman, and he threw up his arms and began yelling in an attempt to scare the animal off.

It didn’t work.

The cat pounced, latching its jaws around Kauffman’s wrist as he tried to protect his face from the claws scratching at his face and legs.

He tried to throw the cat off of him, but both man and lion tumbled down a slope, and a “wrestling match” ensued, Kauffman said.

He eventually managed to pin down the cat’s back legs as he reached for sticks and rocks to strike the mountain lion and force it off of him. All the while his arm was still trapped in the cat’s mouth.

“It really clicked after I hit it in the head with a rock and it still didn’t release my wrist, that at that point, more drastic measures were necessary,” he said.

Kauffman managed to get his foot pressed down on the mountain lion’s neck, and held it down until the animal suffocated and let go of his wrist.

He ran three more miles after the attack
Kauffman had to run three miles down the trail, bloodied, injured and warily eyeing his surroundings for more mountain lions.

He eventually ran into another runner who ran down the trail with him, before they ran into another couple near the parking lot. One of them ended up giving him a ride to the hospital while the others went to get his truck.

At the hospital, doctors were able to clean him up and get a first look at the extent of his injuries, including a bloody gash across his left cheek and numerous puncture wounds from the mountain lion’s teeth and claws.

Kauffman was given 19 stitches in his cheek, six along the bridge of nose and another three in his wrist, where the animal had latched onto him. He was given antibiotics to prevent infection.

A necropsy revealed the mountain lion was about 4 to 5 months old and weighed between 35 and 40 pounds when alive, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. There were multiple causes of death, including blunt trauma and strangulation. The cat tested negative for rabies.

Despite his ordeal, Kauffman said he didn’t regret moving to Colorado to pursue a life lived in the outdoors.

“It’s definitely a very unique state that you can actually see wildlife,” he said. But, he added, “it’s usually better at a distance.”

https://wgntv.com/2019/02/15/r...on-describes-attack/

Bad Kitty!!!!

quote:

A necropsy revealed the mountain lion was about 4 to 5 months old and weighed between 35 and 40 pounds when alive, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. There were multiple causes of death, including blunt trauma and strangulation. The cat tested negative for rabies.

I saw this yesterday, but either missed or it wasn’t told that this “mountain lion” was an immature kitten. I originally was calling BS. Human suffocating a mountain lion? Not likely without getting shredded. A 35 pound inexperienced cat, that makes better sense, just don’t act like it was the momma who’s still wondering where her kitten disappeared to.

Yeah, it makes sense, such a small cat. I just heard of a 135lb-er here in Oregon. You wouldn't stand a chance against a cat that big...unless you had a really big spray bottle!

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
I originally was calling BS.

As was I. Makes more sense now.

You don't stand a chance against a mature cat.

quote:

Is the writer here guilty of hyperbole?

I'm not seeing anything that strikes me as hyperbole. Even though this cat was a young one it's still quite capable of killing a man.

I took a road hit mtn lion off the road many years back that was 80 pounds. True weight as the local F&G Warden had it weighed, tested, etc.

I don't think any unarmed human could have resisted an attack from THAT cat had it meant to do You harm.

It was even littler than that: 3-4 months old, a whopping 24 pounds.

It Was a Kitten

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
It was even littler than that: 3-4 months old, a whopping 24 pounds.

It Was a Kitten

If I read that correctly, the cat had been scavenged. The 24 lbs weight is what was left when they found it.



.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
It was even littler than that: 3-4 months old, a whopping 24 pounds.

It Was a Kitten

If I read that correctly, the cat had been scavenged. The 24 lbs weight is what was left when they found it.



.

Ah, you are correct. I wonder how much weight it lost just before necropsy.

Definitely a different story than a full grown adult, but I'd bet a 24# cat could still mess you up pretty bad. Maybe not kill you, but claw the heck out of you.

The lion becomes smaller with each additional news report. The media should quit reporting on this incident before the creature becomes an adolescent house cat.

If I were a betting man, I would bet this dumb fuck tried to pet it or pick it up and the cat went OG on him then he killed the kitty.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
I'd bet a 24# cat could still mess you up pretty bad.

We used to have a 17# domesticated, de-clawed house cat that could open a whole can of whoop ass when he was hungry or angry (usually both). I'd hate to see what a more than 24# wild one could do.

4-5 months old, he might think about changing his running route. Kits stay with their mother for about two years. More than likely there's a quite upset mountain lion in the area.

quote:

Originally posted by tk13:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
I'd bet a 24# cat could still mess you up pretty bad.

We used to have a 17# domesticated, de-clawed house cat that could open a whole can of whoop ass when he was hungry or angry (usually both). I'd hate to see what a more than 24# wild one could do.

My brother had a cat that when it was 24 lbs was solid muscle. If you patted it on its side it felt like a labrador retriever hunting dog in its prime. It liked to wrestle with people and it was freakishly strong (ie you could lose).