A eight-year-old boy who was attacked by a mountain lion has described how he fought the animal with a stick – and at one point his head was in its mouth.

Pike Carlson was playing with his older brother Gage outside the family home in Colorado when he went to talk to a neighbour down the hill and then was suddenly bitten by the creature.

He said: “I was just punching, trying to grab anything that I can, like a stick.

“I did find a stick and I tried to get it in the eye but soon the stick snapped.”

The 65lb (30kg) mountain lion, which is also known as a puma or cougar, dragged him to a tree, where Pike was pinned down in Bailey, a rural area south of Denver.

As the child fought the lion, his brother ran to their father for help.

When Ron Carlson, who was armed with a knife, arrived at the scene he saw his son pinned under a tree with his head in the animal’s mouth.

Mr Carlson told TV station KUSA: “His head was inside the lion’s mouth and I think that was what made me snap, watching him chew on him.”

Eventually, Mr Carlson was able to scare the big cat away.

Speaking about his son, he said: “The whole side of his face was open. There was blood all over him.”

Pike has had two surgeries and may need a third to repair part of his eyelid after last month’s attack, reported KUSA.

He is now home recovering with his family.

The lion that attacked the child was a one-year-old male.

It, along with a second male lion, was put down after wildlife officials found them near the carcass of a domestic goat the animals had killed.

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