He was enjoying himself with his wife in a hot tub in Colorado when a cougar dug its claws into his head

By The Associated Press

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Monday they are looking for a mountain lion that

while he was enjoying himself in a hot tub with his wife at a rented house in central Colorado.

[In 50 years animal populations have been reduced by 70%]

The man was relaxing in a walk-in hot tub in a wooded area west of Nathrop Saturday night when he felt something grab his head, officials said.

The victim yelled at the animal and churned the water to scare it away, while his wife shined a flashlight on the puma.

A cougar runs on San Vicente Boulevard, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, in October 2022.Getty Images

According to authorities, the animal retreated to the top of a rise and continued to look at the couple after the attack.

Both were able to return to the house, where the man cleaned his wounds and called the property owner, who works for the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

and near his right ear, but did not call for medical attention.

“We think the cougar may have seen the man's head moving in the dark at ground level but didn't realize it was people in a hot tub,” said Sean Shepherd, Salida City Wildlife manager.

"The couple did the right thing by making noise and shining a flashlight on the animal."

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Officials immediately began searching for the cougar along a sloping ridge near a stream, but found no tracks in the frozen snow.

However, they set traps and continued to monitor puma activity near Nathrop, a mountainous area known for its open-air activity.

[More than 330 species of wild animals are "permanently" contaminated with chemicals]

This is the first reported attack by a cougar on a person in Colorado since February 2022. Wildlife officials say at least

.

Three of them died.