A mother scared off a mountain lion that was cornering her 4-year-old son at the family's California home in what she described as a "horrific experience."
The incident occurred on Tuesday September 6 at the property in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles, Nidah Barber-Raymond told Newsweek.
"I am terrified to think about what would've happened if I had not come in time," Barber-Raymond, an actress and entrepreneur who owns the Peel Connection skin care clinic, said.
Mountain lions are a large cat species native to the Americas, with a range stretching from Canada's Yukon Territory to the Strait of Magellan in the south. In the United States, they are mostly found in 14 western states, inhabiting environments such as mountains, forests, deserts and wetlands.
Human encounters with mountain lions are rare, and the chances of the cats attacking are extremely small, but wildlife authorities urge people to be alert in mountain lion country.
Barber-Raymond said she first noticed something was wrong on Tuesday evening when she heard her son crying on the back deck of the home. At the time, the mother was in the kitchen about 25 feet away when she realized what was going on.
"[The mountain lion] was staring at my son," she said. "He was about 4 feet away from him. He was staring at him like he was dinner. He looked thin and hungry."
"I was in shock thinking this can't be happening," she said. "I thought I was seeing things. I did a double take. My son was squeezing his fists crying with his face in his hands."
Barber-Raymond then ran out onto the deck screaming at the mountain lion—which she said was about the size of a relatively large dog, such as a Dalmatian—while charging at the cat.
"The cat stood there staring at my son. I started yelling and taking a step towards him like I was about to lunge at him—trying to intimidate him—and I yelled at the top of my lungs telling him to get out," she said. "He immediately leapt onto the retaining wall and ran away."
The mother said a mountain lion had showed up in the home before—a few years ago, one was spotted on the retaining wall by a neighbor while the family was out of town.
Following the incident, Barber-Raymond reported what happened to wildlife control and said the family was going to "stay alert" from now on.
"Crazy times!" she said.
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Aristos is a Newsweek science reporter with the London, U.K., bureau. He reports on science and health topics, including; animal, ... Read more
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