| TOMAHAWK9521 |
02-11-2019 12:01 |
There have been several cat/hiker/cyclist conflicts in the foothills around Boulder.
Other instances in Colorado were a French family visiting Mesa Verde back in the 90's where the little boy was trotting about 50 feet ahead of his parents when a cat nailed him, puncturing the skull and breaking his neck. His parents saw it all happen before they could even react.
Another similar attack took place at RMNP a few years later. I can't recall if the victim survived but the cat was hunted down. Park rangers traced the cat's trail back to the den and discovered kittens. Mom had evidently found some easy pickings to feed her litter.
One that had never been resolved (cat hunted down) was up in Poudre Canyon/Pingree Park in the late 90's. My late wife was a member of the county's SAR dog team that took part in the search. The little boy who vanished that day was running up and down the trail between his dad, who was lagging behind and arguing with his girlfriend, and the main body of the church group that was hiking up through the mountains to the campus retreat site. Upon arriving at the retreat, the father inquired where his son was. The rest of the group all said the last time they saw him was when he ran back to down to the father.
I think they found a shoe or hat but nothing else. The dad lashed out and blamed the county for screwing up and not trying hard enough to find his son. A year later, some searchers believed they might have found some old scat that had a child's teeth mixed in.
The last time I hiked up to Ypsilon Lake in RMNP, I had to caution a young family from New Hampshire about mountain lions. Dad had a baby on his back, mom was pushing a stroller with their daughter about 100m up the trail and their little boy was running back and forth, out of site of both parents at some point during his runs. I gave the dad a warning of what was likely to happen. By the time we caught up to the wife, he pulled his family close, and from then on, remained acutely aware that they had entered the food chain and were not in just another park.
I, myself, have been stalked by a very noisy/vocal cat while working for an outfitter between Vail and Aspen and that was literally a hair-raising and blood-chilling scream I'd rather not hear again.
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