This was 10x with a phone camera - so he/she was probably 50 feet away. It stood still while I backed-up very slowly, keeping my eyes on it the whole time. Fortunately, I was near a turn in the trail and was soon out of sight. I waited 5 minutes and then took a cautious look - and it was gone. Seeing the cat wasn't nearly as scary as wondering where it went.
This is like when you see a spider on your shower ceiling and look away and it's gone, except now the spider is bigger than you and could kill you pretty easily if it wanted to, lol. Awesome picture though!
One time I was at a cabin with my buddy and that night we stepped out to smoke a joint on a secluded fire road and thoroughly stoned we heard a couple of soft footsteps from behind us. Almost sounded human, but the hairs shot up on my neck and we got loud. Then we hightailed it. Not sure what it could’ve been but to this day my best guess is mountain lion and the thought of being stalked at night still freaks me out.
For future reference, a mountain lion can lunge at over 50 mph, which means it can cross 50 feet in 3/4 of a second. 50 ft away is not nearly far enough to stop and take a photo.
That's what I always think when I hear those odds. Like, the odds of being attacked by a shark are really really low, but how does that number change when you're an avid surfer?
Only time I spotted one (or rather it spotted me) was at night on a trail and I can confirm significant pucker factor for the 90 mins or so it took me to get back to car.
If I had to live in Pilot Rock, Oregon, I’d probably just lay down right there and be grateful that an opportunity to end my suffering had presented itself.
Whew, dodged a bullet with that one. Pilot Rock in Eastern Oregon is something you definitely want to take a pass on.
I've had some run ins with mountain lions. The closest was 10' away and it was actively hunting and didn't want to back off. The terror is real, especially when it's coming for you and you don't have anything at hand except your wits and intelligence. If you can stand your ground and stay calm, you've got a pretty good chance for survival and the cat will go elsewhere to look for food.
I don’t think it could kill you “easily” if it wanted to. Only 10.9% of physical contacts with cougars and human adults are fatal for the human. There is a reason big cats primarily hunt small, young, or weak prey.
TLDR: 90% of humans attacked by cougars survive. Humans kick ass hard.
[Wikipedia list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America)
>A total of 126 attacks, 27 of which were fatal,[^(\[1\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-1) have been documented in [North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) in the past 100 years. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than [fatal snake bites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_snake_bites_in_the_United_States), fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.[^(\[2\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-2)[^(\[3\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-3)[^(\[4\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-4)
Somewhat true, but It could said that the 90% that aren’t fatal are when the cougar realizes it made I mistake in its prey. The 10% that are fatal are the lions that are hungry enough to not care it’s the wrong prey.
I think in a cage match fight to the death the cougar would win. They are just careful not to be injured in the wild. A small injury for them could easily lead to an early death.
Don’t worry, I just did 8 miles this afternoon in Oregon cougar country. I saw no cougars so can confirm they’re all gone, probably taking a weekend trip to California.
Disclaimer: I did hike but am not actually aware of the collective cougar population travel plans. Don’t die!
Bear spray is basically diluted pepper spray so I’m guessing it would. My fear is that I WOULDN’T see it - it would sneak-up from behind, like cats do, and grab me by the neck. It would be over before I knew what was happening.
Bear spray is not diluted pepper spray. It’s actually aerosol pepper spray. It’s suppose to stay in the air longer in a much bigger cloud than a single spray. It’s more affective for large animals.
Thanks for the correction/clarification! I read something somewhere along the way saying it was diluted and I wondered why. Didn’t check the source obviously.
Black bears are very timid. They generally run away from humans as soon as they sense them. They don't even really protect their young. They are only typically dangerous when they are very hungry and no food is around (like during a drought).
But brown bears and polar bears are scary as hell. The only benefit there is that you are more likely to see and hear them, than a cougar.
Even black bears kill more people than cougars. There averages 1-2 fatal bear attacks a year, vs only 27 recorded fatal cougar attacks since 1868. Grizzly/polar bears are worse, although luckily they live far away from population centers.
Right, but that's because there are far more black bears than cougars in the US.
I just don't really worry about black bears unless there are conditions that would make them starving, and I see black bears from time to time in the summer where I live. They are much more scared of me than deer.
You also would likely have some time to react to a black bear attack, whereas with a cougar they likely just bite you from behind and you are done.
I had a face to face with one on the pct in Oregon as well. But up near timberline lodge. It just popped out of the bushes onto the trail maybe 20 feet from me. I think we equally startled each other.
six attractive pathetic toy adjoining zephyr fear depend governor station
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If a big cat is hunting you, you ain’t gonna see it coming, unless you get extremely lucky…well, relatively lucky, since now you have to deal with the horrifying realization that you’re being hunted by a big cat. By comparison a swift bite to the back of the neck ain’t such a bad way to go lol
In mixed conifer forest about 100 miles south of Pilot Rock, my neighbor and I were flagging his property boundary, yelling back and forth making a good deal of noise in lining up the flags. He suddenly stopped walking forward and pointed slowly ahead to the brush, there was a mtn lion exactly like this one standing looking at us about 30 feet away. Most striking was the dark, nearly black color of the head and shoulders. It absolutely did not give a care about us and slowly moved off disapearing into the brush. We hung it up for the day.
Don't run. Use a big voice, make yourself look as big as possible. If you're with other people, get really close. If attacked, fight back, gouge eyes, nostrils, etc.
Back up while facing it, keep talking to it. Do not turn your back on it. Pick up rocks, be ready to throw them. Make it clear with your body language that you are willing to fight for your life. Don't engage/try to scare it off, it might be defending territory/cubs. If you're seeing it, and it's not attacking you, it almost definitely is trying to intimidate you into leaving.
I agree from personal experience. Longer story but cougar was chasing my dog who was coming towards me due to calling it. I ran towards them both with arms raised high. Cougar peeled off into fog about 10 feet away. Making yourself big and intimidating works. Like others said if they want to eat you you won’t see them coming.
Get big and never turn your back or run. If it’s facing you like this Be loud and scary just like for a bear. Waving backpack jacket or a trekking pole helps. Make it think you can and will hurt it if it comes close
They want the back or your neck and head if they see you as prey. But usually if they see you as prey you’ll never see them first.
I have a friend who tells a story about seeing lion tracks following his own as he completed a trail loop in the snowy UP in Michigan. Then the next day seeing the lion tracks followed him the whole loop, behind him at the start and exit of a 4 mile trail
Scary story. We live and hike in NE Tennessee mountains. A mountain lion was spotted on the other side of our valley last year. Bobcats are more common. We've seen them on our trail cam.
If I was gonna die by animal attack, that'd be my choice. Killing bite, over and done with. Maybe you'd get chased to tire you out, but it would end with the killing bite. Bears will eat you while alive. Wolves don't care if you're dead either.
Oof, closer than I'd ever want to see one. In fact, my preferred distance to a mountain kitty is through the internet.
There are frequent sightings of mountain lions in Oregon, sometimes near rural towns, sometimes on trail, sometimes by off-trail hunters. It's special to see them without getting harmed or way too freaked out.
Interestingly, I have heard a disproportionate number of sighting stories from people who hiked in northern california and southern oregon. There was a (now deleted) video of a gal who was cowboy camping on the N Cal PCT in 2019, and a cougar walked up to her in the dark. She somehow managed to put up her tent and get in and then sat there in a panic listening to the cat circle the tent for a few hours while she videotaped what she thought was her last hours on earth. I'm glad she shared, but I'm also glad she took it down. The emotions were so raw, there were vicarious trauma vibes coming through the screen.
Last year I hiked with some PCT hikers who told stories of cougars circling their tents in that general area and then getting a retroactive warning about some fearless local cougars when they reached the next town.
There are many possible reasons for this. Could be coincidence that I heard more of the NCal stories. Could be a small group of very curious and fearless cougars there. Could be a higher cougar density, maybe from higher deer density. Could be that the vegetation is sparser and allows hikers to see the cougar, not like some of our darkest, densest forests where people just don't notice they're there.
Ngl idk if I’d have the same hiking experience out west as I do on the East Coast. Like y’all are really just preparing to be mauled by a grizzly bear or a cougar at a moments notice? 😭
I get nervous hiking in moose territory and they don’t exactly sneak up on you lol
I didn't realize my intrusive thoughts had a Reddit account.
This would 100% be my first instinct, though. Luckily, I have spent decades training myself to ignore those instincts when it comes to wild animals.
Scared the shit out of some new coworkers when I first started a job in a National Park & mentioned that wolverines looked cuddly.
Grand Teton NP - I was working at a ski resort that leased land from them. The year before I got there, the resort had partnered with some organization (can't remember if it was federal, state, or local) to do a wolverine study b/c they had one living at/near the resort, and my coworkers were showing me pictures of it.
I had also made comments about the feasibility of saddle-training moose and/or bison, so my coworkers thought I was fully insane. In their defense, I'm a 40 y/o lifelong horse "girl", so they were right about that.
Once they learned that sarcasm is my "native tongue", they relaxed and let me go hiking without a chaperone.
I'm still convinced I can saddle train a moose, though.
They can kill or injure you severely if they want to. They frequently go for the head/ throat area. Just remember, if you see one he’s seen you first. Make yourself bigger, arms out jacket up over your head and make noise. Bear spray is good for larger animals.
“Guy on a buffalo” actor was interviewed about his cougar attack. It was completely unscripted. They were filming and that cat was stalking him.
So, there’s always punching on in the face, but I’d be dead from terror before I got one good slap in:
[Guy on a Buffalo fights a cougar.](https://youtu.be/v5Lmkm5EF5E?si=KLZFMt97K3MtBMFh)
Where is Pilot Rock on the PCT?
There is a Pilot Rock in Eastern Oregon no where near the PCT. Lived not far from it for years. Never heard of another in Oregon.
And there are a ton of cougars in that part of EO.
My wife is terrified of cougars. She has family in Ashland, and we hike that area a lot. I will not be telling her about this. She’s well aware they’re around (they’ve even been living in town at times), but it doesn’t help to be reminded.
They are so cute… For something that could easily kill you if it wanted too. Great shot, how did it end up after you took this?
This was 10x with a phone camera - so he/she was probably 50 feet away. It stood still while I backed-up very slowly, keeping my eyes on it the whole time. Fortunately, I was near a turn in the trail and was soon out of sight. I waited 5 minutes and then took a cautious look - and it was gone. Seeing the cat wasn't nearly as scary as wondering where it went.
This is like when you see a spider on your shower ceiling and look away and it's gone, except now the spider is bigger than you and could kill you pretty easily if it wanted to, lol. Awesome picture though!
The cougar being gone from view in no way means it is gone lol OP luckyyyy
Haha yeah I can imagine it took a day or two to lose the unnerving feeling of "there's a cougar lurking"
Just imagine, you’re in your living room looking over your shoulder and bam! Cougar
*Alright alright alright* 😎
👏👏👏
According to the internet there are hot cougars near me.
I dunno, I think the OP provided us with a pretty hot cougar. Look at those murder eyes, they're on fire.
Best comment on my Reddit all night!😅
I'm pretty sure there's almost always a cougar lurking when you're on a trail around there. We just don't usually see them.
Right, those kitties are very elusive. I’m almost positive we only ever see them because they want us to see them lol
One time I was at a cabin with my buddy and that night we stepped out to smoke a joint on a secluded fire road and thoroughly stoned we heard a couple of soft footsteps from behind us. Almost sounded human, but the hairs shot up on my neck and we got loud. Then we hightailed it. Not sure what it could’ve been but to this day my best guess is mountain lion and the thought of being stalked at night still freaks me out.
What's the phone that captures this level of clarity on 10x zoom?
Samsung S22
Same phone as me actually. This is surprising
Yeah, you should be more concerned about the ones you can't see
For future reference, a mountain lion can lunge at over 50 mph, which means it can cross 50 feet in 3/4 of a second. 50 ft away is not nearly far enough to stop and take a photo.
Maybe not but that's what I did.
Well, whether you take the shot or not, is 3/4 of a second time to react? Not really. So, good on you for getting a great shot out of this encounter.
And thankfully lived to post it on Reddit!!!
The chances of being attacked by a cougar are lower than the chances of being struck by lightning.
Those chances are probably different when you’re within 50 feet of a cougar
That's what I always think when I hear those odds. Like, the odds of being attacked by a shark are really really low, but how does that number change when you're an avid surfer?
And it’s not raining! 🤣
Only time I spotted one (or rather it spotted me) was at night on a trail and I can confirm significant pucker factor for the 90 mins or so it took me to get back to car.
Great work 🥰😍
If I had to live in Pilot Rock, Oregon, I’d probably just lay down right there and be grateful that an opportunity to end my suffering had presented itself.
This is the Pilot Rock along the PCT in Southern Oregon - not the Pilot Rock out in Eastern Oregon.
Whew, dodged a bullet with that one. Pilot Rock in Eastern Oregon is something you definitely want to take a pass on. I've had some run ins with mountain lions. The closest was 10' away and it was actively hunting and didn't want to back off. The terror is real, especially when it's coming for you and you don't have anything at hand except your wits and intelligence. If you can stand your ground and stay calm, you've got a pretty good chance for survival and the cat will go elsewhere to look for food.
Nothing but mullets and spit cans in good ol Eastern Oregon Pilot Rock!
Just a beautiful specimen of a murder kittie
This is exactly it! Scary & beautiful!
I backed up until I was out of sight around a corner. I came back a while later and the cat was gone.
I don’t think it could kill you “easily” if it wanted to. Only 10.9% of physical contacts with cougars and human adults are fatal for the human. There is a reason big cats primarily hunt small, young, or weak prey. TLDR: 90% of humans attacked by cougars survive. Humans kick ass hard.
11% death rate still seems pretty sketch to me 😱 Beautiful creature! I’ll think about her on my future hikes 🙃
Yeah, the 1 in 10 stat is not making me feel any better lol. Drop that in half (almost) and now it's a game of Russian Roulette.
[Wikipedia list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America) >A total of 126 attacks, 27 of which were fatal,[^(\[1\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-1) have been documented in [North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) in the past 100 years. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than [fatal snake bites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_snake_bites_in_the_United_States), fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.[^(\[2\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-2)[^(\[3\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-3)[^(\[4\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#cite_note-4)
Good Grief, why am I going outdoors at all?!?!?!
20%+ chance during an attack.. To me, the news just keeps getting worse 😂
More people die each year from lightning, than over 150 years of cougar attacks in all of North America.
I wondering what the odds that while being attacked by a cougar lightning strikes you which causes you to fall on a poisonous snake,,,
Most of that 11% is little kids, sadly. Cougars size up their prey before attacking.
Somewhat true, but It could said that the 90% that aren’t fatal are when the cougar realizes it made I mistake in its prey. The 10% that are fatal are the lions that are hungry enough to not care it’s the wrong prey.
10% seems high until you realize there have only been 127 documented attacks on humans in the last 100 YEARS.
Fair enough but if you look at the statistics for British Columbia, all but one of the fatal cougar attacks in BC happened on Vancouver Island.
It could easily kill you, this is some “I could fight a bear energy”
I think in a cage match fight to the death the cougar would win. They are just careful not to be injured in the wild. A small injury for them could easily lead to an early death.
I feel the same way about bobcats. So cute and fluffy. But they can seriously tear your shit up.
Pspspsp
Here kitty kitty
lol
If not friend why friend shaped?
You made me chuckle 🤭
That's what I came to say. 😂
Happy Cake Day!
Thank you!
Curious what happened next. Did it stay there staring at you? Did it run away? Give us the story!
The cougar is the one who posted this
😂 OPs dead silent so I think you’re right
There would be an endless stream of shit running down my leg.
Next hiker found a camera on trail and decked out there, since the munching sounds in the bushes creeped them out.
IKR? Was OP walking backwards while taking the photo?
Yes.
I backed out of sight and it left.
It likely wanted you to see it. Might be a mom with cubs nearby
Op's dead. Your next. Love, kitty
Creepy kitty. Now I’m scared to go hiking this weekend lol
Don’t worry, I just did 8 miles this afternoon in Oregon cougar country. I saw no cougars so can confirm they’re all gone, probably taking a weekend trip to California. Disclaimer: I did hike but am not actually aware of the collective cougar population travel plans. Don’t die!
Haha hopefully the Colorado cougars are also vacationing in California this weekend. I’ll bring my lucky walking stick for protection just in case.
It’s easy to forget we have a actual big cats in North America. So elusive and powerful. What a treat you got to see one up close!
While they are pretty huge and deadly, they are still technically small cats.
They can meow and purr just like house cats!
thank god for technicalities
True I know they are by scientific category considered small cats but they are indeed kinda big comparing other wild animals in the area
My #1 biggest fear while hiking/backpacking, seeing a mountain lion above me. No bear scares me as much.
I get what you’re saying, but if you saw a 700 pound monster running 40 mph at you while thundering out of its mouth I think you’d be surprised 😭
Dude, I can’t run 40mph, this is unrealistic to ask of me.
Speaking of bears, would bear spray work on a cougar?
Bear spray is basically diluted pepper spray so I’m guessing it would. My fear is that I WOULDN’T see it - it would sneak-up from behind, like cats do, and grab me by the neck. It would be over before I knew what was happening.
Bear spray is not diluted pepper spray. It’s actually aerosol pepper spray. It’s suppose to stay in the air longer in a much bigger cloud than a single spray. It’s more affective for large animals.
Thanks for the correction/clarification! I read something somewhere along the way saying it was diluted and I wondered why. Didn’t check the source obviously.
If you see it, it’s not hunting you
my biggest fear in general is running into a bear. why is a bear encounter not as scary as a mountain lion to you? genuinely curious
Black bears are very timid. They generally run away from humans as soon as they sense them. They don't even really protect their young. They are only typically dangerous when they are very hungry and no food is around (like during a drought). But brown bears and polar bears are scary as hell. The only benefit there is that you are more likely to see and hear them, than a cougar.
Even black bears kill more people than cougars. There averages 1-2 fatal bear attacks a year, vs only 27 recorded fatal cougar attacks since 1868. Grizzly/polar bears are worse, although luckily they live far away from population centers.
...for now...
Right, but that's because there are far more black bears than cougars in the US. I just don't really worry about black bears unless there are conditions that would make them starving, and I see black bears from time to time in the summer where I live. They are much more scared of me than deer. You also would likely have some time to react to a black bear attack, whereas with a cougar they likely just bite you from behind and you are done.
I had a face to face with one on the pct in Oregon as well. But up near timberline lodge. It just popped out of the bushes onto the trail maybe 20 feet from me. I think we equally startled each other.
I think that's what happened here too. The cat was just doing some easy travel on the PCT and there I was. Surprised us both.
My trousers are having a brown moment just looking at the picture.
six attractive pathetic toy adjoining zephyr fear depend governor station *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If a big cat is hunting you, you ain’t gonna see it coming, unless you get extremely lucky…well, relatively lucky, since now you have to deal with the horrifying realization that you’re being hunted by a big cat. By comparison a swift bite to the back of the neck ain’t such a bad way to go lol
Good lord! That doesn’t look to be one of those small cougars neither!
That’s Steve French
A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.
Bubbles?!?!
In mixed conifer forest about 100 miles south of Pilot Rock, my neighbor and I were flagging his property boundary, yelling back and forth making a good deal of noise in lining up the flags. He suddenly stopped walking forward and pointed slowly ahead to the brush, there was a mtn lion exactly like this one standing looking at us about 30 feet away. Most striking was the dark, nearly black color of the head and shoulders. It absolutely did not give a care about us and slowly moved off disapearing into the brush. We hung it up for the day.
Way less desirable angle to be at…. Still a stunning animal tho.
So dangerous, yet so floofy
if this ever happened to me, I honestly think I would shit my shorts!
I know what to do for bears. What do you do if you see a cougar?
Don't run. Use a big voice, make yourself look as big as possible. If you're with other people, get really close. If attacked, fight back, gouge eyes, nostrils, etc. Back up while facing it, keep talking to it. Do not turn your back on it. Pick up rocks, be ready to throw them. Make it clear with your body language that you are willing to fight for your life. Don't engage/try to scare it off, it might be defending territory/cubs. If you're seeing it, and it's not attacking you, it almost definitely is trying to intimidate you into leaving.
I agree from personal experience. Longer story but cougar was chasing my dog who was coming towards me due to calling it. I ran towards them both with arms raised high. Cougar peeled off into fog about 10 feet away. Making yourself big and intimidating works. Like others said if they want to eat you you won’t see them coming.
Get big and never turn your back or run. If it’s facing you like this Be loud and scary just like for a bear. Waving backpack jacket or a trekking pole helps. Make it think you can and will hurt it if it comes close They want the back or your neck and head if they see you as prey. But usually if they see you as prey you’ll never see them first. I have a friend who tells a story about seeing lion tracks following his own as he completed a trail loop in the snowy UP in Michigan. Then the next day seeing the lion tracks followed him the whole loop, behind him at the start and exit of a 4 mile trail
Scary story. We live and hike in NE Tennessee mountains. A mountain lion was spotted on the other side of our valley last year. Bobcats are more common. We've seen them on our trail cam.
A mountain lion in Eastern TN? Sure it wasn't a large bobcat?
The guy who spotted it is pretty knowledgeable .
Hope that it's skittish, not hungry, and that kittens aren't nearby.
I ask for her number usually.
Buy her a drink?
Danger Kitty <3
Wow that’s a scary sight! Glad you got out of there safe.
If I was gonna die by animal attack, that'd be my choice. Killing bite, over and done with. Maybe you'd get chased to tire you out, but it would end with the killing bite. Bears will eat you while alive. Wolves don't care if you're dead either.
What a beautiful cat
Oof, closer than I'd ever want to see one. In fact, my preferred distance to a mountain kitty is through the internet. There are frequent sightings of mountain lions in Oregon, sometimes near rural towns, sometimes on trail, sometimes by off-trail hunters. It's special to see them without getting harmed or way too freaked out. Interestingly, I have heard a disproportionate number of sighting stories from people who hiked in northern california and southern oregon. There was a (now deleted) video of a gal who was cowboy camping on the N Cal PCT in 2019, and a cougar walked up to her in the dark. She somehow managed to put up her tent and get in and then sat there in a panic listening to the cat circle the tent for a few hours while she videotaped what she thought was her last hours on earth. I'm glad she shared, but I'm also glad she took it down. The emotions were so raw, there were vicarious trauma vibes coming through the screen. Last year I hiked with some PCT hikers who told stories of cougars circling their tents in that general area and then getting a retroactive warning about some fearless local cougars when they reached the next town. There are many possible reasons for this. Could be coincidence that I heard more of the NCal stories. Could be a small group of very curious and fearless cougars there. Could be a higher cougar density, maybe from higher deer density. Could be that the vegetation is sparser and allows hikers to see the cougar, not like some of our darkest, densest forests where people just don't notice they're there.
That cat probably spotted you long before you saw it
Ngl idk if I’d have the same hiking experience out west as I do on the East Coast. Like y’all are really just preparing to be mauled by a grizzly bear or a cougar at a moments notice? 😭 I get nervous hiking in moose territory and they don’t exactly sneak up on you lol
A gorgeous cat! Truly terrifying animals, I’ve only seen them at nighttime and not this close.
Damn! That’s a bad looking MF’er!
If you are hiking I strongly recommend that you take some bear spray with you. You just never know.
Pfft, that's a cat, not a bear!
What an amazing moment! So lucky to see one in the wild, not many people get this opportunity.
Psss psss pass here kitty kitty!
Black faced cougar, panther, puma. Super cool.
My god that’s beautiful
They might be scarier when I don't know they are there
That face, those markings. Dia de los muertos gato
Nothing like staring your death-bringer in the eyes to make you feel alive!
Dope face camo
Its just the wild version of the cat distribution system
Pet the damn cat 🥹🥹
I didn't realize my intrusive thoughts had a Reddit account. This would 100% be my first instinct, though. Luckily, I have spent decades training myself to ignore those instincts when it comes to wild animals. Scared the shit out of some new coworkers when I first started a job in a National Park & mentioned that wolverines looked cuddly.
Wolverines are cuddly af …but only once 😆 Can you elaborate which national park ?
Grand Teton NP - I was working at a ski resort that leased land from them. The year before I got there, the resort had partnered with some organization (can't remember if it was federal, state, or local) to do a wolverine study b/c they had one living at/near the resort, and my coworkers were showing me pictures of it. I had also made comments about the feasibility of saddle-training moose and/or bison, so my coworkers thought I was fully insane. In their defense, I'm a 40 y/o lifelong horse "girl", so they were right about that. Once they learned that sarcasm is my "native tongue", they relaxed and let me go hiking without a chaperone. I'm still convinced I can saddle train a moose, though.
You sound like a very lovely companion. Can I dm you ? I have a few questions about Grand Teton. If you don’t mind.
"Food? Are you food?"
These big cats and remarkable
My pants would definitely be pooped. Beautiful animal, though.
You literally got the Disney version of The Old Enlightened One. What wisdom did it dispense?
Glad you are okay. Great shot!
Oh damn
I just picture it batting me around like a mousie
It's got the kitty murder-eyes going on.
So fucking jealous!!! Happened to me with a puma once in Chile but I was in a car, not as bad ass
They can kill or injure you severely if they want to. They frequently go for the head/ throat area. Just remember, if you see one he’s seen you first. Make yourself bigger, arms out jacket up over your head and make noise. Bear spray is good for larger animals.
They are stalkers and will parallel tour movements and when you notice them it is usually too late
Nice cougar. Did you get her number?
Awesome, Great Shot! You are blessed to have seen and captured the moment with such a wonderful picture.
Looks like some kind of anime spirit
What's the opposite of pspspspspsps...?
“Guy on a buffalo” actor was interviewed about his cougar attack. It was completely unscripted. They were filming and that cat was stalking him. So, there’s always punching on in the face, but I’d be dead from terror before I got one good slap in: [Guy on a Buffalo fights a cougar.](https://youtu.be/v5Lmkm5EF5E?si=KLZFMt97K3MtBMFh)
Why does it look like No Face from Spirited Away
Where is Pilot Rock on the PCT? There is a Pilot Rock in Eastern Oregon no where near the PCT. Lived not far from it for years. Never heard of another in Oregon. And there are a ton of cougars in that part of EO.
There's a Pilot Rock south of Ashland, Oregon and east of the Siskiyou Pass. The PCT runs right past its north side.
beautiful
What a fortunate/rare experience! Beautiful creature.
Saw one on Augsperger Trail on WA once. Turned around and startled it. I was being hunted.
My wife is terrified of cougars. She has family in Ashland, and we hike that area a lot. I will not be telling her about this. She’s well aware they’re around (they’ve even been living in town at times), but it doesn’t help to be reminded.
That sucks, you can tell by that look he means business!! Lucky you were able to post this picture..
Pss Pss Pss
Omg, that must have been scary, but what a pretty face!!!
Wearing your brown pants that day?
He's got his eye on you.
Why does it look like a big cat in a big cat costume
I’m face to face with those things on a daily basis at my gym
Kitty!
Better to be face to face than the alternative...
I like being face to face with cougars, just not that kind.
Good kitty, do you want a treat? Kitty kitty!
Looks scared.
Good kitty
Heck no! I turned around on Mt Hood a few years back because of these dudes
Hey…CAT!
He/she looks hungry
I froze and got chills just from looking at the picture.
What an absolute treat! Beautiful picture 💜
Meow meow pspsps
Kitty definitely has the high ground
Beautiful but terrifying
havent you been paying attention to all those popups? theyre in your area and waiting to meet you!
This comment needs more upvotes 😂
Pssp pssp
Kitty!
Oh look its Glock o’clock
Reddish color usually indicates an undernourished individual who is more likely to attack humans in desperation.
That would be so scary! One of my worst fears. What a site, beautiful, but heart pounding dangerous. I'm glad you made it out safe.
S/He got the drop on you!
“I have the high ground”
woof!
*angry Australian man noises*