Via Eastern correspondent Fred, this report is bracing:

A Colorado trail runner is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by a mountain lion on the West Ridge Trail at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space near Fort Collins earlier this week. The man, who has not been identified, killed the mountain lion, which Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said was a “juvenile” and weighed 80 lbs, according to The Washington Post.

“The runner did everything he could to save his life,” Mark Leslie, northeast region manager for CPW. “In the event of a lion attack, you need to do anything in your power to fight back just as this gentleman did.”

According to NBC News, the mountain lion, whose body was found “within a few feet of some of the man’s possessions” attacked the runner, “biting his face and wrist and causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries.” A necropsy found that the man had suffocated the animal in order to get away, according to The Washington Post.

While mountain lion attacks are rare, they do occur, which means it’s important to stay vigilant if you’re in their territory.

Since I don’t believe in luck, I’d rather put it that God blessed him that day.  Nick comments, dryly, “I think he could’ve outrun the cat but his massive stones slowed him down.”  Perhaps, and this guy is quite brave and quick-thinking, but it could have gone the other way.

Mountain lion attacks are rare.  I guess they are.  That’s what they say every time this happens, whether to a hiker, mountain bikers in Washington, or to a mountain biker in California trying to fix a broken chain.

Okay.  Rare.  And often deadly to humans.  Carry a gun wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.

In a startling discovery, this Idaho woman found herself grabbing a mountain lion (via Glenn Reynolds).

An Idaho woman was shocked to discover she was holding onto a male mountain lion when she yanked the creature off her dog last week.

The woman, who has not been identified, believed she was breaking up a “dog fight” between her pup and another pet outside her Mackay home when she suddenly realized she was actually grabbing a wild animal.

After realizing what she had in her hand, the shocked woman — who suffered scratches during the attack — called her husband for backup.

“The woman restrained both her dog and the mountain lion while yelling for her husband, who was still inside the house, to grab a gun. Her husband responded and quickly dispatched the mountain lion as she held on to it,” the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) described in a news release Monday.

Local police officers and a wildlife official arrived on the scene roughly 30 minutes later. The responding officer from the IDFG recovered the roughly 35-pound juvenile mountain lion’s body and confirmed the carcass would be sent to a nearby lab for testing.

I don’t know who’s tougher – him or her.  But remember, mountain lion attacks are rare.  They say that every time it happens.  It must be true, so no need to worry.

Or carry a gun.  Or maybe that’s bad advice.