While checking on his trail cameras, wildlife photographer Mark Girardeau came face to face with a mountain lion as it strolled past him just feet away on a dirt road in the wilds of Orange County, California.
Calmly, Girardeau captured the close encounter in Trabuco Canyon on video.
“It was kind of a stalemate because I didn’t want to turn away and was hoping she would first, but she didn’t,” Girardeau told FOX 11.
“I filmed it as she ended up walking right by me. After that, I ended up having a second encounter with her, when I saw her from my car.”
Girardeau wasn’t totally defenseless, however. “I had bear spray ready,” he said at the end of the video while holding up the can.
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Girardeau believed the collared cougar was one he knew as Uno, but wildlife officials have not confirmed its identity, according to FOX 11.