Jay Kinsey was driving in central Montana last week when he caught up to three mountain lions running on a highway.
The accompanying footage shows the mountain lions, or cougars, pacing in a line before hopping over a guard rail into the snow and disappearing from view.
Kinsey then exits his car and focuses on the cats as they emerge from the base of a bush and walk farther from the road.
“It was definitely not something a guy comes across every day,” Kinsey, who lives in Lewistown, told MTN News.
He explained that he had previously seen crows and eagles feasting on a road-kill deer carcass and thought the distant objects might be more crows. “Then I noticed they were cats so I picked up my phone to [document the encounter] and show my wife and daughter when I got service.”
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Kinsey told For The Win Outdoors that hunting friends told him he was watching a female mountain lion and two sub-adult kittens.
“I’d say they were right because she was always in the lead,” Kinsey said. “It was pretty neat to see. I’ve seen a few when out hunting deer and elk but never that close to them.”
The unusual encounter occurred last Thursday just west of Lake Sutherlin.