Sarah Bole came home to find the unsettling scene of her dog sitting unfazed as a mountain lion approached it. She videotaped the moment.
A tiny dog named Dash stared down a mountain lion, putting up a brave front thanks to a pane of glass separating it from the big cat.
“There is a big, big mountain lion on our patio,” Dash’s owner Sarah Bole said in the video she recorded upon getting home last Thursday evening and discovering the unsettling scene. “He wants to eat my dog…I’m not going to lie, this is really scary.”
Dash remained unafraid, however. He simply wagged its tail and ignored Bole’s commands to get away from the door.
The incident occurred in Grand Lake, Colorado, an area known for its wildlife, but Bole had never seen a mountain lion before.
“I thought it was very unusual that my little dog was sitting at the door like that and he didn’t come greet me or anything and then I looked up and the mountain lion was frozen on the patio in med-step,” Bole told Sky-Hi News. “That’s where the video starts.”
“I knew the cat couldn’t come in in my rational brain, but…I’m 5-feet away and it’s tapping on the glass,” Bole told Sky-Hi News.
“We’ve always known that there are mountain lions up here, on our property, in this neighborhood, but you do all the things you’re supposed to do…and I just never expected to see one 5-feet away looking in my dining room.”
A woman who was stalked by a cougar Friday in Southern California was shaking with fear during a tense confrontation that “felt like an eternity.”
A woman who was stalked by a cougar Friday in Southern California acknowledged shaking with fear during a tense confrontation that “felt like an eternity.”
But Rachel de Vlugt knew better than to run and was thankful to have been with a companion who helped prevent the harrowing situation from escalating.
“Thank God Mark was there because I think I would have taken off running, which is obviously the worst thing you can do,” de Vlugt stated on Facebook after the evening encounter in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon.
De Vlugt and Mark Girardeau were checking motion-sensor cameras on remote trails when an adult female cougar, or mountain lion, charged toward them and paused behind bushes only 20 feet away. (See video below.)
Girardeau’s video shows the cougar eyeing both hikers intently as he yells repeatedly in an attempt to keep the predator at bay: “Get back! Get back, mountain lion!”
In de Vlugt’s video clip, Girardeau predicts that the cougar will follow as they slowly back away. The cat, indeed, continues its close-range vigil.
Cougar named Uno. Photo: Mark Girardeau
De Vlugt acknowledges “shaking” but she and Girardeau maintain their composure, never turning away from the cougar until it retreats after two excruciatingly long minutes.
De Vlugt, a personal trainer, told FTW Outdoors that she has jogged on area trails for years and had never spotted a cougar. “Although I knew it was a possibility, I never expected it to actually happen,” she said.
Of resisting the impulse to run, potentially triggering an attack, she said, “Everyone knows how to tell you how you’re supposed to act in those situations, but nobody knows how difficult it is to execute when you’re actually faced with it.”
Cougar named Uno passes trail-cam. Photo: Mark Girardeau
Mountain lions in California prey largely on mule deer, which they stalk and ambush. Girardeau and de Vlugt spotted several deer minutes before the cougar sighting.
Girardeau, who runs the Orange County Outdoors website and shares trail-cam footage with researchers, initially thought the cougar was a male nicknamed Toro. A researcher informed him, however, that the animal is an older female named Uno.
–Images showing a cougar named Uno are courtesy of Mark Girardeau
A photographer who monitors trail cameras in Southern California mountain lion habitat experienced a dangerously close encounter with one of the predators on Friday.
A photographer who monitors trail cameras in the Southern California wilderness experienced a dangerously close mountain lion encounter on Friday.
Mark Girardeau, who was hiking with Rachel de Vlugt in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon, shared footage of their 5 p.m. encounter via Instagram.
Girardeau told FTW Outdoors that he and de Vlugt had just checked a few cameras when he saw the mountain lion run up a hill and stop to watch them from perhaps 20 feet away.
In the footage the male mountain lion, or cougar, peers intently through bushes and does not flinch as Girardeau repeatedly yells, “Get back!” in an attempt to keep the animal at bay.
As they slowly back away, the cat briefly follows.
Girardeau’s Instagram description reads: “I think there are two things that could have caused this: either he has a kill nearby and he was defending it or he ran up not realizing we were humans since he couldn’t completely see us from down below.
“There were deer in the area that we saw so he probably assumed it was them.”
Mountain lions in Southern California prey largely on mule deer, which they stalk and ambush.
Girardeau wrote: “Mountain lions do not predate on humans and this is why it’s good to hold your ground because any prey item for mountain lions runs away. If you don’t do this, the mountain lion is not going to assume you are prey.”
Girardeau, whose social media feeds contains cougar footage captured by motion-sensor cameras, told FTW Outdoors that about two minutes passed before the cougar stopped following them.
Police in San Bruno, Calif., believe that a mountain lion, or cougar, broke into a residence early Tuesday after spotting several lifelike critter heads gazing blankly from the walls.
Police in San Bruno, Calif., believe that a mountain lion, or cougar, broke windows to enter a home early Tuesday after spotting a hunter’s trophy mounts gazing blankly from the walls.
In a news release the San Bruno Police Department stated: “It is believed that the mountain lion entered the residence because of several large game, taxidermy trophy heads, mounted on the interior walls of the residence.”
The mountain lion was scared off by the homeowner and nobody inside the house was injured.
The incident occurred at 12:20 a.m. Police said that the cougar could not be located during an “extensive area check.”
Mountain lion sightings in San Bruno are uncommon so police reached out to the California Department of Wildlife for tips that all homeowners might find useful:
–Deer-proof your property to avoid attracting a lion’s main food source.
–Remove dense vegetation from around the home to reduce hiding spaces.
–Install outdoor lighting to make it difficult for mountain lions to approach unseen.
–Do not leave small children or pets outside unattended.
–Always remember, mountain lions are wild animals and their behavior may be unpredictable.
–Do not hike, bike, or jog alone. Do not hike, bike or jog at dawn, dusk, or night.
–Stay alert on trails. Keep a close watch on small children and off-leash pets.
–Never approach a mountain lion. Give them an escape route.
–DO NOT RUN. Stay calm. Do not turn your back. Face the animal, make noise, and try to look bigger.
–Do not crouch down or bend over.
–If a lion attacks, fight back. Research on mountain lion attacks suggests that many potential victims have fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, garden tools, and their bare hands. Try to stay on your feet. If knocked down, try to protect your head and neck.
–If a mountain lion attacks a person, immediately call 911.
A hunter has revealed details about his stare-down with a snarling cougar last month in the Montana wilderness – an encounter his partner caught on video.
A hunter has revealed details about his standoff with a snarling cougar last month in the Montana wilderness – an encounter his partner caught on video.
Janis Putelis, during a Meat Eaters Podcast episode, revealed that the cougar was a kitten, perhaps a year old, weighing 40 pounds, and that Putelis was concerned enough for his safety that he raised his shotgun to scare off the critter.
“That movement was enough to spook it, and then its sibling spooked, and momma spooked off, too,” Putelis recalled. (See the video below.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsNiX9AHtR/
Putelis and Zach Sandau had ventured into dense brush during opening weekend of Montana’s turkey hunting season.
“Down in the gully off to my right, I hear… in my mind it registers [simply] as air coming out of an animal’s mouth,” Putelis says in the podcast. “[But there] might have been a touch more grrr or growl to it….
“Right after that I can hear footsteps. Soft pads, but a little bit of crunching of pine needles and detritus.”
Putelis, who was sitting beneath a tree during a break from calling turkeys, asked Sandau to document the encounter with his phone. He figured a bear was approaching “because that’s what I’m expecting in this landscape.”
But then he saw tan hide and guessed it was a deer. But the long tails were a dead giveaway: The turkey calls had apparently attracted a “three pack” of mountain lions.
Momma kept her distance but the kittens “caught our movements” and approached, softly growling. The cougar shown in the video was bolder, approaching to within 15 yards.
It crouched and snarled, and that’s when Putelis clutched his shotgun.
“At that point I’m like, ‘Alright, that’s enough of that,’ ” he says. “I then took my shotgun from my lap and I pointed it at it, and that movement was enough to spook it.”
Almost immediately the distant turkeys that had been so vociferous went silent, realizing a threat was in their midst.
Said Putelis: “There was no more clucking, no yelping, no gobbling, and we hiked around that mountain for another 30 minutes and they were gone.”
How would you react if you were calling in turkeys and mountain lions showed up?
How would you react if you were calling for turkeys and mountain lions showed up?
Apparently, that’s what happened to Janis Putelis and his hunting companion recently in Colorado, and Putelis caught part of the encounter on video.
The accompanying footage shows two of three mountain lions that approached within yards of Putelis and Zach Sandau as they were stationary and camouflaged, hoping to attract turkeys.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsNiX9AHtR/
“Zach Sandau and I called in a three pack of mountain lions while turkey hunting,” Putelis explained in the April 15 Instagram post.
The footage shows one mountain lion passing through the brush and another scrambling in for a much closer look. That cougar appears to stare fiercely at Putelis before backing off to join the others.
A third mountain lion does not appear in the footage and Putelis did not respond to a request for details about the encounter.
Putelis, however, is co-host of the MeatEater Podcast and promised via Instagram to share details during an upcoming episode.
Can you spot the stealthy mountain lion? A U.S. Fish and Wildlife photo offers a challenging task.
Mountain lions by nature are stealthy animals that will typically see you before you ever see them. The predators usually hunt at night and/or lie in wait for unsuspecting prey, and are usually invisible in the habitat in which they hide.
Take for example this photo taken by John Tull of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washoe County, Nevada.
The USFWS posted the photo on Facebook Wednesday and wrote, “Where’s Waldo: Mountain lion in Washoe County, Nevada, edition. Can you spy the big cat?”
Among the comments on Facebook:
“It’s just a photo of rocks, isn’t it?”
“I see the big cat now! You guys made it tricky for us!”
Though not as terrifying as the runner stalked by a mountain lion in Utah, another runner in California encountered a cougar on the trail, and the scary standoff prompted him to copy what the Utah man did to scare it away.
Though not as terrifying as the runner stalked by a mountain lion in Utah last month, another runner in California encountered a cougar on the trail, and the scary standoff prompted him to copy what the Utah man did to scare it away.
Carlos Vasquez, as he does four times a week, was on a morning run in O’Neill Regional Park in Orange County last week when he saw what he thought was a coyote coming up the trail, as he often sees in the early morning hours.
“Since I was running and looking around, I didn’t bother to really take a good look at the supposed to be a coyote, and as the video shows, there is a large tree that blocked my sight,” Vasquez told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “So, I slowed down. Thank God I did.”
Vasquez, wearing a GoPro while running, suddenly realized it was a mountain lion and stopped in his tracks.
“I thought about that mountain lion encounter in Utah for couple of reasons,” Vasquez said. “I was running those Utah mountains a week before and it could have been me, so when I saw the video, I asked myself what would I have done if it was me. Because he was so close, I thought that if he would have launched an attack there was not enough space for him to stop; it was going to be all or nothing. I also remembered that this runner in Utah talked to the lion a lot and that seemed to have worked. I tried the same thing and it seemed to have worked as well.”
On the video you can hear him say, “Hey little kitty, go away. Come on, get away.” Then the cougar sat down.
“When I saw him sitting, I thought that he was standing [his] ground and he wanted me to go away, and that is when I slowly started backing up…I remember stumbling a bit and he reacted to it, so I stopped and continued talking.”
Eventually, the mountain lion turned and walked away, much to Vasquez’s relief.
“I made sure he was not around anymore, and after calming down, perhaps a couple of minutes, I continued with my run, but then I told myself ‘Don’t press your luck Carlos,’ turn around and continue running a different trail.”
And so he did, and didn’t it again.
“It was scary due to the proximity and the fact that he stood his ground and didn’t back up and just sat down for a while,” Vasquez told For The Win Outdoors. “The picture is still clear in my head and I get chills when I think about it.”
Photos courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife and ViralHog.
A 10-year-old boy escaped serious injury during a cougar attack, thanks largely to a border collie that sped to his rescue.
A 10-year-old boy escaped serious injury during a cougar attack Monday, thanks largely to a border collie that sped to his rescue.
The boy was one of four children hiking with two women on a trail outside a remote cabin near Marshall Lake in British Columbia, Canada.
According to a news release issued Wednesday by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, the boy had run ahead of the group when a cougar “suddenly dropped out of a tree and swiped at the boy, knocking him down.”
The cougar scratched the boy’s back and chest before a border collie that accompanied the group jumped onto the cougar’s back. The cougar, or mountain lion, fled into the wilderness amid screaming and rock-throwing.
The COS stated that the boy, after receiving first aid from a nearby road worker, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident remains under investigation and the COS, as of Thursday morning, was still trying to track down the cougar.
The agency’s Facebook post about the incident generated nearly 400 comments, with the most popular comment reading, “That dog deserves a steak dinner! Glad to hear the boy escaped serious injury.”
–Generic cougar image courtesy of the USFWS; Marshall Lake image courtesy of the COS
A hard-to-spot mountain lion patiently waits for the right moment to attack an elk feeding in a gully at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge.
A hard-to-spot mountain lion patiently waits for the right moment to attack an elk feeding in a gully at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in a photo posted by the refuge.
The elk was unaware of the predator’s presence, and at first glance one can understand why. The cougar is very well hidden. So much so, even many viewing the image on the refuge Facebook page admitted not being able to spot the mountain lion. (The answer is revealed below.)
The photo was captured by a trail camera as part of a monitoring project looking at the success of restoring arroyos at the refuge, located about 150 miles northeast of Albuquerque.
The Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge asked visitors to “share this and find out how many of your friends can actually spot this elusive predator.”
“That was tougher than I thought it was going to be,” one commenter wrote.
“Oh wow! It took me a long time, but I finally found it. Such amazing camouflage!” another wrote.
“Congrats to the person who was reviewing these images! I would have moved right on past!!” said yet another.
Other comments:
“I’d be dead since I still don’t see it.”
“I can’t find it even when I expand the size of the picture.”
“Found it but took about five minutes.”
Mountain lions are stealthy creatures, and typically they will see you before you see them. They hunt at night and often are lying in wait for prey or silently stalking it before pouncing from behind and delivering a lethal bite to the spinal cord, according to The National Wildlife Federation.
If you still need help locating the cougar, it’s circled in this photo:
So what happened to the elk?
“We are not sure,” the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge wrote on Facebook. “The elk moved on and the puma moved out into the open and towards where the elk was. We are not sure what finally happened.”
Photo courtesy of the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge.
