If I’ve ever seen a glance of dying, this may be it.
Cougars (additionally known as mountain lions and pumas relying on location) are one of the prolific predators in North America. Whereas they’ll weigh over 150 kilos, they stroll close to silently via closely wooded areas, closing the space on prey earlier than they’re even seen, and by then, it’s usually far too late.
They’re additionally very reclusive and arduous to identify, which makes getting an correct inhabitants practically unimaginable, however Nature.org places the variety of mature breeding mountain lions at lower than 50,000 worldwide.
Which is why for probably the most half you don’t have to fret about working into certainly one of these guys accidentally, however one unfortunate shed hunter in British Columbia discovered himself head to head with an absolute till of a cougar just a few years in the past.
Whereas out on the lookout 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.
After all, it’s an unbelievable sight, however only one look and it’s straightforward 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 on the lookout for shed antlers and setting path cameras.
I seemed down at a shed antler and was taking photos after I felt one thing watching me. I seemed as much as see the cougar starring at me at 20 meters.
I tried to scare the cougar away 3 occasions. The cougar returned and eventually, after a third try I used to be capable of slowly stroll out of the realm to security, no cougars have been harmed.”
Completely terrifying…
Luckily, he was capable of 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 ‘Preventing for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It solely takes a minute. Thanks.
Preventing for Wildlife helps permitted wildlife conservation organizations, which spend a minimum of 80 % of the cash they increase on precise fieldwork, reasonably than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you may designate for which sort of initiative it ought to be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or local weather.
This article by Andrew Mies was first printed by Whiskey Riff on 24 August 2023.
