Mountain lion attacks man sitting in Colorado hot tub
The man told officers he was sitting in the in-ground hot tub with his wife when something grabbed his head.
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NATHROP, Colo. -- A man was injured over the weekend after officials say a mountain lion attacked him.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) responded to a Chaffee County, Colorado, home late Saturday evening after the incident.
The man told officers that he and his wife were sitting in an in-ground hot tub when he felt something grabbed his head.
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"He and his wife began screaming and splashing water at the animal. The victim’s wife grabbed a flashlight and shined it on the animal, which they then identified as a mountain lion," CPW officials said. "They continued to scream at the mountain lion, and after a short time, it moved up to the top of a hill near some rocks where it crouched down and continued to watch the couple."
The couple said they had made it inside their rental home before calling officers.
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CPW could not track down the mountain lion but said they did the right thing by scaring off the animal.
"We think it's likely the mountain lion saw the man’s head move in the darkness at ground-level but didn’t recognize the people in the hot tub," said Sean Shepherd, Area Wildlife Manager. "The couple did the right thing by making noise and shining a light on the lion."
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Officers say this is the state's first reported mountain lion attack since February 2022 and the 24th known attack to cause injury since 1990.
FILE -- A mountain lion was spotted in the Brentwood area Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, prompting a precautionary lockdown of an elementary school in the area of Gretna Green Way and San Vicente Boulevard. The lion was initially hiding amid some trees in an alleyway near the Brentwood Country Club.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images)