Posted on 01/02/2026 11:53:58 AM PST by Red Badger
With all of our modern technology, our modern lifestyle, our comfortable homes, and so on, it's easy for some people to forget that we're part of the natural world, too. Part of that means that we, like any animal, are subject to predation. It's not common; most big predators have learned that humans are dangerous and steer clear. But apex predators remain apex predators, and they will on occasion decide to prey on a human, especially a hiker or jogger alone and unarmed on a trail.
That's what appears to have happened to a solo hiker on a mountain trail in Colorado on Thursday.
A solo hiker who authorities believe was killed by a mountain lion on a remote Colorado trail on New Year’s Day was not the first person to encounter a big cat in the area in recent weeks.
Gary Messina said he was running along the same trail on a dark November morning when his headlamp caught the gleam of two eyes in the nearby brush. Messina pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo before a mountain lion rushed him.
Messina said he threw his phone at the animal, kicked dirt and yelled as the lion kept trying to circle behind him. After a couple of harrowing minutes he broke a bat-sized stick off a downed log, hit the lion in the head with it and it ran off, he said.
The woman whose body was found Thursday on the same Crosier Mountain trail had “wounds consistent with a mountain lion attack,” said Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Officials were awaiting confirmation.
Mountain lions (also called cougars, pumas, and panthers), Puma concolor, are something of a biological oddity; they're technically not a "big" cat, which are of the genus Panthera. That includes lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. Mountain lions are known as a "large small cat," being more closely related to the South American jaguarundi and the African cheetah. But they are, in their range, apex predators, and deer are a common prey. Humans, of course, are more or less in the same size range as deer.
Two cats have been killed in the area since the as-yet unnamed woman's body was found.
Wildlife officials later tracked down and killed two mountain lions in the area — one at the scene and another nearby. A necropsy will determine if either or both of those animals attacked the woman.
A search for a third mountain lion reported in the area was ongoing Friday, Van Hoose said. Trails in the area remained closed while the hunt for the animal continued. Van Hoose said circumstances would dictate whether that lion also is killed.
The investigation, which will include examining the stomach contents of the two cats that have already been killed, is ongoing.
While we don't yet know all the details of this case, it's an important object lesson nonetheless. Nature isn't a Disney movie. There are animals out there that can be dangerous. When hiking, fishing, jogging, sightseeing, or enjoying any outdoor activity, it's important to remain aware of one's surroundings at all times. There's almost nowhere in the United States where there are no dangerous wildlife; mountain lions, bears, large ungulates like bison and moose, and even feral hogs can be dangerous.
Remain aware. Remain alert. If you're proficient with firearms, carry one. If not, at least carry bear spray or something of that nature. Always keep in mind: We're not immune to the natural world, any more than any other critter.
Not rare for her.
Not rare for him.
RIP...But I still think it is not good for a woman to go hiking alone
Whether it was rare mountain lion, or a common garden-variety one doing the attack, the hiker is still dead.
Sometimes I imagine our boy being 100 x bigger and killing us.
There’s a sign on the USAFA grounds warning that any trail might have a mountain lion on it and advising people to “make yourself look big”, or some such advice.
Colonel, USAF JAGC (Ret)
Not just women. About a year ago, a mountain lion attacked 2 brothers (ages 18 and 21). The 18-year-old survived, but the 21 year old did not.
https://apnews.com/article/california-mountain-lion-attack-brothers-92b8b951c5e8d62a889af494d2d3642d
She should remembered have gun will hike sad.
In Colorado, the most dangerous thing for you (once you are out of or off of your vehicle) is walking.
Last 30 years: Humans killed by mountain lions: 3.
Humans killed while walking around in the countryside: Estimated at 1050. And if the 3 killed by lions hadn’t been out walking, they wouldn’t have died!
At all.
You could say rare, but for the woman the frequency was 100%.
My former manager was moving to Colorado and she knew I owned guns, she said her husband and two boys wanted to buy guns for when the hike. Told her to make sure whatever gun the got, to be sure it had a 4 in the caliber. Never heard from her again but I found out the house they bought was on a mountain with several acres.
“Rare”
🙄
Don’t know where you get your info from but we’ve had that many just on the West Coast in that time period.
4?
Works for me.............
It’s rare because it only happens once per person...........
Unless he cooked her, he had it rare.
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