VIDEO: Mountain Lion Struggles With Taking Down Big Buck

[WARNING: This video contains foul language.  Watch at your own discretion...]

Mountain lions are tenacious hunters, and often their attacks on prey amount to a war of attrition, as seen in this dramatic video shot in Colorado.  

A group of men were going ice fishing, as they do every year, and this year they decided to go to the Blue Mesa Reservoir in Colorado.  Every year, they say, they always joke about seeing a mountain lion, and this time they really did - in fact, they had a much more dramatic sighting than usual.  As the video's uploader says, "This time guys, I'm not joking, and it's in our backyard."  

One night, right outside their cabin, they were amazed to find that a mountain lion had attacked an 4-point muley buck, clamping its mouth around the front of the buck's face and refusing to let go.  The mountain lion largely lets its body go slack, so that the buck, in its efforts to free itself, is forced to lift and carry the bodyweight of the mountain lion.  

The men taking the video express a desire to help the buck, even suggesting at one point that they kill the mountain lion (not a great idea) or that they "call the department of wildlife," although its not particuarly likely that the Department of Wildlife (presumably they mean Colorado Parks and Wildlife) would come out and stop nature from taking its course. 

But we don't blame them - it can be distressing to see a beautiful animal brutally killed.  Even so, it's the call of the wild. 

See the whole video below!