‘leave! ‘Socal hiker captures a horrible encounter with Mountain Lion in video
This is a nightmare scene that every Southern California hiker fears – while you walk alone on a trail, a mountain lion suddenly appears.
But for Cortney Rasura last week, that nightmare became a reality.
In a wild video shared on Instagram, Rasura once seemed to head straight for her as she caught two mountain lions into her hiking trail.
“No!” she shouted to the cat repeatedly. “No, go away!”
In an interview with KTLA, she said Rasura met a mountain lion on July 3 at the Gridley Trail in Los Padres National Forest. After taking a few steps towards her, the mountain lion moved from the trail and defined along the hillside. You can hear Rasura’s relief in the video as she murmured, “Thank you!”
Rasura told the station that she is an experienced hiker and knows to keep eye contact with the cat instead of running away.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife encourages people to take steps to avoid encounters with mountain lions, such as hiking in groups rather than hiking at dawn, dusk or night, and to preserve food. But in an unplanned encounter, Rasura took several steps recommended by the agency, including staying calm, not running away and making loud noises.
The agency also recommends looking as big as possible and warns people not to approach big cats or crouch down.
According to CDFW, there have been twelve mountain lion attacks on humans in the past decade in California, which is a deadly one. The agency still says such attacks are still rare, as humans are 1,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning than mountain lions.
