Hiker Survives Nightmarish Encounter With Cougar Who Ran Him Down Trail

Nov 06, 2020 by apost team

Most hikers know that when you go out into the wilderness, you risk having a chance encounter with nature. Normally the encounters are mild: you might encounter a raccoon or opossum on the trail. But nature's toughest predators also lurk in the woods. And when one man named Kyle Burgess went hiking in Provo, Utah in October of 2020, he got a lot more than he bargained for.

On October 8th, 2020, Kyle Burgess from Utah decided to go on a hiking trip, as ABC 11 reports. He'd walked through this trail countless times before and had no reason to believe that today would be any different. But in the middle of the trail, a sudden obstacle made him stop short.

A small mammal stood in the middle of the trail. At first, Kyle thought it was a bobcat. He'd seen bobcats on this trail multiple times before and never had any risky encounters. But things changed when he realized that the mammal in the trail was actually a baby cougar. And when you see a baby cougar, you know that the mother is close by. That's when an ordinary hike became a terrifying nightmare.

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Sure enough, the mother popped out of the woods, with Kyle filming the whole time. She walked up to him with a threatening, predatory stance. Kyle immediately started backing away. That might be enough for some cougars, but this mother was determined to get Kyle out of her territory. She charged at him, growling and spitting.

Kyle continued to back away, but the cougar kept following him. The footage became shaky as the cougar charged at him once more. It's like something out of a "found footage" horror movie. On and on, the cougar followed him, never giving up her pursuit. We don't know what Kyle was thinking at this moment, but we think it's safe to assume that he feared for his life.

At the end of the clip, the cougar finally gave up and took off running, leaving a cloud of dust behind her. It seems that Kyle finally got out of her territory and left her babies in peace. Kyle continued filming as the cougar ran back up the trail to reunite with her babies. It's a terrifying counter that some people might not have survived. Nature is ruthless, and nothing can get in the way of a cougar that feels like her babies are being threatened.

Of course, nearly every animal on the planet — humans included — would react swiftly when they feel like their children are in danger. But is this normal behavior for cougars? Surprisingly, Nicki Frey, a wildlife biologist with Utah State University Extension, said in an interview with Insider that the behavior in this video is actually fairly unusual. She said that it's normal for cougars to scare off humans when they feel that their babies are being threatened, but they don't normally follow them for a long period of time. In fact, the expert said that he'd never heard of a cougar following a human for six minutes like the one in the video.

Still, the expert chalked it up to the cougar in the video simply being a devoted parent. He added that she might have claimed that area as her territory and wanted to escort the human out of the area. Either way, we wouldn't go hiking in that area any time soon.

If you ever find yourself in the same situation, experts recommend not running; instead, keep eye contact with the cougar. And if the cougar attacks, you should fight back with anything you have available. The expert in the below video commended Kyle for the way he dealt with this potentially life-threatening encounter. 

If you don't know much about cougar behavior, you might not see this cougar as a protective mother. You might see her as a predator who was stalking a human because he looked like a tasty snack. And indeed, many news outlets reported that the cougar was "stalking" Kyle. However, wildlife experts pointed out that this was not the case, as Insider reports.

One expert said that the cougar wasn't exhibiting stalking behavior — she was simply trying to protect her cubs. Another expert pointed out that if she had been stalking Kyle, he wouldn't have seen her until it's too late. After all, what kind of predator jumps in front of its prey and makes itself known immediately? She didn't want to eat Kyle for dinner — she simply wanted to protect her babies.

This video has already earned hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos and hundreds of comments, with people across the country offering their opinions on this scary situation. Local news outlets have reported the video and interviewed Kyle for their news broadcasts. It's a terrifying clip, and we're glad that Kyle made it out alive. We hope this video is a lesson to anyone who thinks about wandering too far in the wilderness.

What did you think about this terrifying video clip? Could you feel your heart pounding when the cougar lunged at Kyle? Share your first impressions with us. If you know someone who likes to go camping or hiking, send them this video and remind them to be prepared when they venture out into the woods.