Colorado Wildlife Encounter: Man Kills Mountain Lion with Shovel

The state of Colorado is widely known for its natural beauty and is consequently a sort of outdoor playground for those who enjoy camping, hiking, hunting, and more.

However, spending time in Colorado's outdoors "roughing it" also puts campers and other outdoor enthusiasts in danger of a wildlife encounter. While encounters with the most dangerous of Colorado's wildlife including bears, wolves, and mountain lions are typically rare, they do happen.

Read More: Colorado Wildlife Attacks on the Rise: A Simple Explanation? |

One of the most recent wildlife encounter that could have ended up much worse than it did took place just outside of Canon City near the spectacular tourist attraction known as the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Colorado Camping Trip Results in Mountain Lion Encounter

While on a seemingly leisurely camping trip with his husky just outside of Royal Gorge, Andrew Johnson says that his dog spotted a mountain lion and instinctively ran after it.

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However, Johnson took matters into his own hands as the 95-pound big cat was said to have gotten in a scuffle with the canine and the man intervened by striking the mountain lion with a shovel in self-defense, killing the dangerous animal.

As you can see in the above video, the big cat succumbed to the shovel strike and immediately following the altercation, Johnson got a hold of the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife to report what happened.

While it seems pretty clear that Johnson was acting in self-defense, injuries on the cat's paws and head have warranted an investigation by CPW.