Talk about a jump scare.
I’ll be 100 percent honest with you… this might be one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. This video that’s now going viral online has all the makings of a classic horror movie trope. At first, the people are just hanging out and having a good time. Then, they hear something in the woods and playfully decide to explore what it could be. After some tense moments of searching (for added suspense), the creature hiding is finally revealed.
Pretty much every horror film you’ve ever watched, right?
Well this was no scary movie. This wildlife encounter was as real as it gets, and it took place in Tofino – which is located on the Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada. A family was relaxing in their hot tub when noises of rattling caught their attention. It looks like the jacuzzi is located right next to some hedges, and initially, they weren’t able to see what was causing the racket.
Seems to me like one of those scenarios where they had that feeling that someone or something was watching them, and once they heard the noises, they had to see it through. I’m sure they were hoping that a culprit would be some sort of small, harmless rodent. The father in the video even says at one point:
“Probably the raccoons, because they live underneath this, right? I think they live underneath it.”
Raccoons living underneath the hot tub? That’s probably a whole other issue that the family should explore resolving, but that would soon be the least of their worries. Whoever was holding the camera taking the video you’ll see below kept looking around in different parts of the hedges, having no luck finding the source of the rustling. That is until a set of glowing eyes reflected the light back and really got the attention of the daughter.
The back and forth that ensued after that was comical, and instead of trying to explain it (I was afraid I wouldn’t do it justice), here’s the transcript for the short conversation the father and daughter had once they found what they were looking for:
Daughter: “It is a cougar, dad!”
Dad: “No it’s not.”
Daughter: “It is.”
Dad: “Holy sh*t.”
I don’t know why I find that so funny, but I do. Initially, the dad was like, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Seconds later? Once he saw what his daughter was seeing, he also went into panic mode and let the “Holy sh*t” slip out. I think we’d all say something along those lines if we traded places with the father – who may I remind you was just trying to relax in his own jacuzzi.
Just goes to show that you can’t ever let your guard down when you’re out in nature, especially if you live in an area where mountain lions and cougars are considered to be active. Vancouver Island actually has the highest concentration of cougars in North America, with approximately 600-800 of these beasts in an area that is about the size of Maryland (roughly 12,000 square miles). For comparison, the state of Wyoming has about 2,000 mountain lions, and nearly 100,000 square miles. The more you know…
@captain.nataleeface to face with a cougar… Tofino BC
