Travis Kauffman the famous Colorado man who choked a mountain lion to death after it attacked him said that he managed to kill it by jamming his foot into the neck of the mountain lion and yelling a barbarian yell.
On February 5, 2019, Travis Kauffman was on jogging on a trail in the Horsetooth Mountain Park that is located in Colorado when he was attacked by the lion, he killed the mountain lion without using any deadly weapon and also managed to drive himself to the hospital, he got 28 stitches.
Travis Kauffman spoke for the first time this week and said that he can “never be able to live up to the reputation”.
31-year-old Travis Kauffman said that the bushes behind him were rustling and was “pretty bummed to see a mountain lion chasing after me” after he turned around and saw the lion charging towards him.
31-year-old Travis Kauffman said this on Thursday: “I stopped and I threw my hands up in the air and I started shouting. And unfortunately, the shouts didn’t deter it.”
The mountain lion lunged at him, grabbed his hand and wrist and clawed his neck and face.
He said: “That’s when my fear response turned into more of a fight response because I realized how close it was getting to my eyes and I got a claw in my lip.”
Travis Kauffman said that he threw the lion off him that gave them “a little tumble down the south side of the trail” and after that, they “had a little wrestling match.”
Travis added that after he got on the top of the animal and pinned him, he started to stab the mountain lion with sticks but they kept on breaking, so he hit the lion with large rocks.
He added: “It was pretty heavy and it was kind of hard to wield. And I tried to give it a few bashes in the back of the head”
After Travis gave the mountain lion hard blows at the back of its head, he realized that he had to do something that is more drastic.
He said: “I was able to shift my weight and get a foot on its neck. And at that point, I stepped on it, on its neck with my right foot.”
The mountain lion kept on thrashing but after some time it did stop moving and saw that its jaws open. He added: “I was able to kind of scramble back up the hill and get the heck out of dodge.”
He also said that the fight was a bloody mess and he was full of blood when he reached the hospital.
In an interview, Travis Kauffman said: “I think it’s one of those really weird sensational stories — super rare,” he said. “I feel like I should go buy a bunch of lottery tickets … It’s a modern day man vs. nature scenario.”
He added: “I will never be able to live up to the reputation, The story is bigger than my puny form.”
Travis Kauffman said that the incident will not stop him jogging again on the trails, but he advises runners to stay alert and they should also avoid putting on headphones when they are on the trail.
The CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) said that Travis Kauffman did not have any broken bones or any tendon damage.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife added that the lion was less than 1-year-old and it died out of suffocation.