Fatal suspected mountain lion attack happened weeks after another encounter

Weeks before a hiker was killed in a suspected mountain lion attack in Colorado, a man was nearly attacked by another big cat on the same trail.

Gary Messina said he was rushed by a mountain lion while running along the same northern Colorado trail on a dark November morning.

Messina said he threw his phone at the animal as it continued to circle behind him and was able to escape after a few minutes when he broke a stick off a log and hit the mountain lion in the head with it.

“I had to fight him because he was basically trying to mutilate me,” Messina told the Associated Press. “I was afraid for my life and I couldn’t escape. I tried to back away and he was trying to lunge at me.”

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A woman who was found dead on the same trail on New Year’s Day had “injuries consistent with a mountain lion attack,” a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman said.

“Around 12:15 this afternoon, hikers on the Crosier Mountain Trail in Larimer County observed a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground approximately 100 yards away,” Kara Van Hoose said at a news conference Thursday.

After the alleged attack, wildlife officials killed two mountain lions and are searching for a third to determine if the animal had rabies or another disease.

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This is the first suspected fatal attack on a mountain lion in more than 25 years, the last being in 1999.

This photo provided by Gary Messina shows a mountain lion in the brush between two trees along the Crosier Mountain Trail in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests near Glen Haven, Colorado, November 11, 2025. (Gary Messina via AP)

Messina said he reported his incident a few days later and authorities posted warning signs about the mountain lions that were then shot.

He said he thinks the animal that attacked him may have been the same one that killed the New Year’s Day hiker.

Sightings of mountain lions in this area of ​​Rocky Mountain National Park are common, but the animals are rarely aggressive.

The New Year’s Eve attack is believed to be the fourth deadly attack in North America in the past decade and the 30th since 1868, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation.

“As more people live, work and recreate in areas that overlap with wildlife habitat, interactions may increase, not because mountain lions become more aggressive, but because the overlap increases,” said Byron Weckworth, the organization’s conservation manager.

Authorities suspect a lone hiker in Colorado was killed in a rare mountain lion attack on New Year’s Day. (AP Digital Integration)

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To avoid any risk of attack, experts advise nature enthusiasts to avoid dawn and dusk, when mountain lions are most active, and to travel in groups.

When meeting, experts suggest maintaining eye contact with the animal, trying to appear as large as possible, backing away slowly without turning your back on the animal, and not running.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.