A camper at a California state park rode his bicycle to the ranger station in an effort to get cell service but got a whole lot more: A very close encounter with a mountain lion.
The unidentified man at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu was looking down at his cellphone when a mountain lion casually walked within an arm’s reach. He didn’t react until the mountain lion had passed.
“I wasn’t really nervous because it wasn’t that aggressive or anything, but the kids that we had at the campground kind of made me nervous because it did run off towards the direction of the kids,” the man told NBC Los Angeles.
Fearing the children were at risk, the man hustled back to the campsite to warn people about the mountain lion, but he was met with skepticism.
But cameras at the ranger station captured the close encounter, which was posted by NBC Los Angeles on its YouTube Channel.
“Nobody really believed me at first, which was really vindicating to get that footage from the ranger,” he told NBC Los Angeles. “Once they gave it to me, everybody was a little more surprised than initially.”
NBC Los Angeles reported that since 1890, there have been less than 50 verified mountain lion attacks on humans and only six were fatal.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Mountain lion walks by camper looking at cellphone