Camper Kills ‘Extremely Aggressive’ Mountain Lion With a Shovel

By Bethanie Hestermann

Published

10/03/2024

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reported a strange incident that occurred last week at a campground in Cañon City, Colorado. When CPW officers arrived at the scene, there was a dead mountain lion on top of a man’s Jeep. The man said he killed the mountain lion with a shovel after it was “acting unusual and extremely aggressive.”

Videos by Outdoors

“The man told CPW that he was sitting outside his recreational vehicle with his dog the previous night when a mountain lion approached them,” CPW wrote in a press release. “The man said his dog, a husky, began growling and barking as the lion approached. When the lion got within about 10 feet, the dog engaged it and the man grabbed a shovel, which he used to strike the lion in the head, killing it.”

CPW says it was a 95-pound female mountain lion. The agency’s preliminary finding is that the man acted in self-defense and was afraid for his life and his dog’s life. CPW adds that mountain lion attacks are rare in Colorado.

If you encounter a mountain lion and don’t want to risk going after it with a shovel, make yourself look big and intimidating. Make noise, throw sticks and rocks toward the animal but not at it, and raise your arms above your head to appear larger than you are. Don’t run.

You can also use bear spray as a deterrent. Bear spray is effective against all large mammals, including moose and mountain lions, but remember, mountain lions are typically stealth predators, so it’s not guaranteed to protect you. In this case, however, the mountain lion came right up to the camper and his dog, and bear spray probably would have sent it running.