A Colorado mother likely saved her son’s life when she fought off a mountain lion that was attacking her child outside their home in western Colorado.
Reuters.com is reporting that the Piktin County Sheriff's Office confirmed the unidentified 5-year-old was attacked by a mountain lion while playing outside with his older brother. The mother heard screams and arrived to the scene to see the big cat on top of her son.
The mother, “was able to physically remove her son from the mountain lion,” Reuters said. The sheriff told the website that the boy’s father called 911 and drove him to the hospital.
Fortunately, the 5-year-old is in fair condition, but a hospital spokeswoman told the new wire he does have injuries to his face, head and neck. The mother was treated for injuries to her hands and legs, but has been released.
Shortly after the attack, the mountain lion was tracked down in the mother’s front yard by sheriff’s deputies, and a law enforcement officer from the U.S. Forest Service euthanized it, the sheriff told Reuters.com.
The website reports the last known mountain lion attack in Colorado was in July 2015, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said there have been two or three fatalities related to mountain lion attacks in the state since 1991.