Travis Kauffman enters a news conference Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in Fort Collins, Colo., about his encounter with a mountain lion while running a trail just west of Fort Collins last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) – When a young mountain lion clamped its jaws onto Travis Kauffman’s wrist and clawed at his face, he screamed a “barbarian yell,” jammed his foot onto the animal’s neck and held it there until the cat quit thrashing and died.
After a couple of minutes, Kauffmann recalled Thursday, “it finally stopped moving and then the jaws opened and I was able to kind of scramble back up the hill and get the heck out of Dodge.”
Through it all, the 31-year-old trail runner said, the cat remained eerily silent.
It was the first time Kauffman publicly recounted the Feb. 4 ordeal that left him with 28 stitches and a reputation for toughness and bravery that overshadows his wiry frame.
Travis Kauffman responds to questions during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in Fort Collins, Colo., about his encounter with a mountain lion while running a trail just west of Fort Collins last week. Kaufman’s girlfriend, Annie Bierbower, looks on at left. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“I will never be able to live up to the reputation,” said Kauffman, who stands 5-foot-10 (1.5-meters) and weighs about 155 pounds (70 kilograms). “The story is bigger than my puny form.”