Mountain Lion Scratches Colorado Man on Front Porch

A Colorado man was scratched on the leg by a mountain lion when he opened his front door to investigate a loud noise.

Michael D. Warren, 47, told The Journal the attack happened Sunday evening, Feb. 27.

Warren was in his home when he heard a noise on his front porch that caused his dogs to begin barking inside the house. Assuming his cats might be fighting, he opened the door to investigate. He said when he placed his leg outside the door to block his dogs from going outside, he felt something grab it. When he looked outside, he saw a mountain lion run away. His home security camera caught footage of the lion running through a porch screen with his dogs, Daisy and Harley, in pursuit. Warren and his friend called the dogs back to him as the lion ran across the road.

Warren, who sustained puncture wounds to his lower right leg, said he was wearing blue jeans and long johns, which prevented the injury from being worse.

It was a shock and happened so fast, not something you expect when you step onto your porch, Warren told The Journal. It just grabbed and latched its claws onto my leg. Luckily my dogs were right behind me and chased it off.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has set a live trap to capture the lion, which will be euthanized if caught because it injured a person.

This is an ongoing investigation, said CPW District Wildlife Manager Matt Sturdevant. We are still looking into it, and want to make sure we get the right offending lion. Any help from the surrounding area and the public would be helpful.

Sturdevant said the lion's tracks, the security camera footage, and Warren's testimony suggest the lion is a young subadult. We also believe it is the same lion that had been hanging out in the area for a bit, he said.

Since the attack, Warren said, he's installed motion detectors and cameras that alert his phone to activity outside of his home.

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