Jogger Strangled Mountain Lion in 'Battle to the Death'

The Colorado man who strangled a mountain lion with his bare hands has now become a living legend. 

The man, who didn’t want to be identified, was exercising at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space in Fort Collins earlier this month when the wild animal attacked him, biting his face and arm, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 

“He was just really prepared,” Rebecca Ferrell, an employee with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told Inside Edition. “He made loud noises, very firm, not high-pitched. He made himself big, he raised his arms to try to make him look like anything but prey.”

When that didn’t work, however, the man had to take matters into his own hands — literally — and strangled the animal.

“At that point it became sort of that fight or flight instinct and he knew that he had to do everything he could to fight that cat,” Ferrell said. “We went to the trail, we found the animal. The injuries to the animal matched up to his story as well so it was pretty clear that this was a true story.”

Park officials said attacks like this one aren’t common in the area.

Nick Clark, who runs the trails regularly, said he was amazed by the story.

“The typical reaction from a lot of people was, ‘Wow this dude’s a badass,’” Clark said. “How do you kill a mountain lion? He stood his ground and fought for his life.”

The man didn’t have any life-threatening injuries.

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