I understanding have the dream of seeing a mountain lion in the wild just like every other person who enjoys the great outdoors, but after watching so many videos of human encounters with them, I’m gonna do my best to keep it just a dream.
There’s the viral video of the Idaho elk hunter who had to fire shots at an attacking lion, this jogger being stalked, or this fisherman who charged at one to scare it off, and that’s just the few that happened to be captured on video.
Well, a couple in Montana apparently weren’t swayed by any of these encounters and set off into the woods to try and find one themselves.
We don’t know if they’re hunters or have experience with wild cats, but it certainly didn’t seem so when the woman came face to face with exactly what they were looking for.
Let’s let the lady filming give you the run down…
“My husband and I went to track mountain lions and had been hiking over a mile in the woods in Montana. The numerous deadfall trees caused me to be behind, so my husband went ahead of me.
I was continuing to try to catch up, when I noticed the mountain lion at the bottom of a ravine, slowly creeping. I grabbed my camera to capture the moment, and as soon as I started recording, the mountain lion switched directions and headed up the mountainside toward me. I just froze as it continued in my direction.
The mountain lion finally sees me, about 15 feet away from where I was standing. It then hissed at me and after a few seconds (which felt like minutes) it changed direction and ran down the hill away from me.
It shortly thereafter climbed a tree across the ravine from where I was standing.”
Now listen, first and foremost I am extremely happy she made it out with nothing more than a wild video, but can I also say, what did you expect?
Either you just wanted to say you were “Tracking mountain lions” and really had no intention other than to take a nice stroll in the woods, or you had absolutely no clue what the consequences of finding one can be. From the video it’s clear you were terrified (Who in their right mind wouldn’t be?) but you also didn’t bring any form of defense? No pistol, bear spray, taser, nothing?
And what’s with all the dogs running around and barking? Did you guys bring those to scare the lion out, but then have no clue what to do when that lion started to defend itself from a perceived threat?
Also, what kind of husband just abandons his wife in the woods, especially when they know they’re in mountain lion territory? That’s a dirty move and I bet he slept more than a few nights on the couch because of it.
I don’t know, I just have a lot of questions, but can say with absolute certainty the best course of action is just to leave the mountain lions alone unless you’re actually prepared…
Let this be a lesson that wild animals aren’t pets or farm animals.
