If I’ve ever seen a look of death, this would be it.
Cougars (also called mountain lions and pumas depending on location) are one of the most prolific predators in North America. While they can weigh over 150 pounds, they walk near silently through heavily wooded areas, closing the distance on prey before they’re even noticed, and by then, it’s typically far too late.
They’re also very reclusive and hard to spot, which makes getting an accurate population nearly impossible, but Nature.org puts the number of mature breeding mountain lions at less than 50,000 worldwide.
Which is why for the most part you don’t have to worry about running into one of these guys by accident, but one unlucky shed hunter in British Columbia found himself face to face with an absolute until of a cougar a few years ago.
While out looking for antlers and setting up trail cameras near the Campbell River, this guy found himself no further than 20 meters away from a killing machine. Of course, it’s an incredible sight, but just one look and it’s easy to see that this beast did not have good intentions.
To make matters even worse, he didn’t have a firearm as a last line of defense, meaning there was pretty much no chance of survival if the cat made a move.
“I was out on a walk looking for shed antlers and setting trail cameras. I looked down at a shed antler and was taking pictures when I felt something watching me. I looked up to see the cougar starring at me at 20 meters.
I attempted to scare the cougar away 3 times. The cougar returned and finally, after a 3rd attempt I was able to slowly walk out of the area to safety, no cougars were harmed.”
Absolutely terrifying…
Fortunately, he was able to escape with nothing more than a wild story, but man, that could have easily ended very, very poorly.
