Kyle Burgess was running in Slate Canyon, Utah, when he realized that he was aggressively being tailed by a mountain lion. Quick thinking, he got big, he got loud, and did everything he could to scare the big cat, but she stayed behind him for more than six straight minutes.
She lunged at him with a terrifying false charge each time, but holy hell if that ain’t enough to make me leave the trail with some soiled shorts. However, according to Kyle, the mother cougar was just protecting her 4 young cubs:
“I found what I thought were bobcats on the trail during a run. Turns out they were cougar cubs and their mother was not happy to see me. She follows me for over six minutes acting very aggressively while I walk backwards up the trail.”
He eventually threw a rock at it, and it finally turned and ran away. I don’t know how Kyle wasn’t more freaked out, but props to him for staying cool, calm and collected. But like I always say, everybody loves nature until they come face to face with it… not for the faint of heart.
Another Utah Hiker Has Close Encounter With Mountain Lion
Welp, that will most definitely get the blood pumping.
Another hiker in Utah documented a tense situation as he was stalked by a mountain lion while exploring Broads Fork Trail. “I was hiking Broads Fork Trail up Big Cottonwood Canyon (a trail I’ve hiked frequently) when I heard noise behind me and I saw a cougar.”
That’s about the time you drop a brick in your shorts.
He adds, “I faced the cougar and proceeded to back up and try to make myself big and talk calmly to the cougar.” After watching the video, I’m not totally sure this fella got the sound “big and calm” part down, but can you blame the guy?
He detailed how the encounter ended, saying “The cougar periodically would sprint at me and hiss and show its teeth. She probably was about 10 feet away at her closest. The encounter lasted about 5 minutes and I have about 2 minutes of it on video. Eventually, she gave up pursuing me and I made it away safely.”
“I PROMISE I’M NOT GONNA BUG YOU! I’M GOING AWAY!”
Maybe didn’t sound big and calm, but the guy didn’t get torn to pieces, so there’s a win…
Check it out.
