How Scary Is This Cougar Stalking This Photographer On Vancouver Island?

It's a Canadian cougar. Probably assumed the guy was lost and was offering to let him ride his back to safety.

I’ve seen better cougars in the quad on a Tuesday afternoon

This person got some great film but was woefully uninformed about encounters with bears, cougars, etc. As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person "plays dead." Standing still however may cause the cougar to consider a person easy prey. Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat. Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings. Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were not accompanied by adults. 20 people, mostly children, have been killed in all of North America in the last 120+ years. A very colorful lady named Cougar Annie lived on the Wild Western Coast of Vancouver Island from age 27 to age 97, killing 50+ Cougars and 80+ bears to protect her chicken and goats......Geaux Cougs!!!!

Poor guy just seems curious.

I was stalked by a cougar in Market Basket. It was indeed terrifying.

Come on cougar, eat the dude already

Bet he wished he had a buffalo who normally had his back around because he was about to get straight up mauled by a cougar. He better punch that cougar in the face! GET OUT OF HERE KITTY CAT!

Good Lord...one of many reasons to be carrying in the woods.

No gun, no brain

who needs a gun when you have extra underwear

Awesomely terrifying

whats scary is that cat is really healthy and not emaciated. Usually they only look at humans as prey when near starvation. You don't stand a chance against a healthy cat like this.

At one point that cougar is sitting on the log with his back turned to the dude. That's an unusual act for a cougar that is "hunting" I think. I would imagine also that most cougars that are "hunting" will do their utmost to stay out of sight of their prey until they can charge instead of just sitting behind a log out in the open. So I'm seriously doubting the "hunting" part. Maybe "I accidentally stumbled onto a cougar in the wild and now the cougar feels threatened and is considering attacking". But "hunting"? No.

“And no, I don’t have a gun” Well there’s your first mistake, Dudley Do-Right. Always have a gun on you when entering the woods for an extended period of time.

What do y'all think would happen if the dude charged and yelled? Would the cougar run or fight?

Probably a fat guy taking the photo with a fat kid. Too tempting for the cougar.

Reminds me of osprey that will circle and pass when you are in their territory. The proverbial "Do something stupid..." mode in full effect.

absolutely bone chilling

that one has a hungry look in her eyes...