PROVO, Utah – A two-mile run turned into a run for his life after a man came close to a mountain lion while on a hiking trail in Utah earlier this week.
According to a Fox News report, Kyle Burgess found a few wild kittens on the trail he was running on at the Slate Canyon Trail, near Provo, Utah.
He began filming the kittens, and he initially thought they were bobcats. However, Burgess soon realized that they were mountain lion cubs.
“I found what I thought were bobcats on the trail during a run,” Burgess said in the video’s description on YouTube. “Turns out, they were cougar cubs and their mother was not happy to see me.”
The video, listed below, has gotten more than six million views on the video application. Disclaimer: the video does contain profanity.
In the video, Burgess is walking backward as the mountain lion keeps a steady pace behind him and periodically charges at him. Burgess attempts to talk it down while moving down the trail.
“Nice and slow, come on,” Burgess says in the video. “No, no, no, I’m big and scary. Go away. Go away, go get your babies. I’m not coming back down, I promise.”
According to Burgess' description, he was stalked by the cat for over six minutes. He yelled, roared, hissed and made just about every sound possible to avoid injury to both the cat and himself.
“She escorted me for over six minutes to get me away from her cubs,” Burgess said in the video. “Although she was acting very aggressive, the cougar had no intent on hurting me. The mother cougar was most likely caught off guard and did what she had to do to protect her cubs. Mama, cubs, and I are safe.”
So, what happened after?
Burgess, also now known as “Cougar Guy,” has received a lot of support and has even embraced the scary situation with some humor.