If I’ve ever seen a glance of dying, this could be it.
Cougars (additionally known as mountain lions and pumas relying on location) are some of the prolific predators in North America. Whereas they will weigh over 150 kilos, they stroll close to silently by closely wooded areas, closing the gap on prey earlier than they’re even observed, and by then, it’s usually far too late.
They’re additionally very reclusive and laborious to identify, which makes getting an correct inhabitants practically inconceivable, however Nature.org places the variety of mature breeding mountain lions at lower than 50,000 worldwide.
Which is why for essentially the most half you don’t have to fret about operating into one among these guys by chance, however one unfortunate shed hunter in British Columbia discovered himself head to head with an absolute till of a cougar a number of years in the past.
Whereas out searching for antlers and establishing path cameras close to the Campbell River, this man discovered himself no additional than 20 meters away from a killing machine.
In fact, it’s an unbelievable sight, however only one look and it’s simple to see that this beast didn’t have good intentions.
To make issues even worse, he didn’t have a firearm as a final line of protection, that means there was just about no likelihood of survival if the cat made a transfer.
“I used to be out on a stroll searching for shed antlers and setting path cameras.
I regarded down at a shed antler and was taking footage after I felt one thing watching me. I regarded as much as see the cougar starring at me at 20 meters.
I tried to scare the cougar away 3 instances. The cougar returned and at last, after a third try I used to be in a position to slowly stroll out of the realm to security, no cougars have been harmed.”
Completely terrifying…
Luckily, he was in a position to escape with nothing greater than a wild story, however man, that would have simply ended very, very poorly.
What you are able to do
Assist ‘Combating for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It solely takes a minute. Thanks.
Combating for Wildlife helps authorized wildlife conservation organizations, which spend not less than 80 % of the cash they increase on precise fieldwork, quite than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you possibly can designate for which sort of initiative it ought to be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or local weather.
This text by Andrew Mies was first printed by Whiskey Riff on 24 August 2023.