{"id":275663,"date":"2025-11-06T18:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275663\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T18:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:26:09","slug":"video-shows-cyclists-strange-encounter-with-a-mountain-lion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275663\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Shows Cyclists\u2019 Strange Encounter With A Mountain Lion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Experts are raising concerns after a couple of bikers had a frightening run-in with a mountain lion Sunday while trekking on an Orange County trail in California.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/bicyclists-come-face-mountain-lion-frightening-orange-county-trail-encounter\/18115150\/?linkId=874967400\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"video shared by ABC-owned station KABC-TV\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"690cbc3be4b0799004d382cd\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/bicyclists-come-face-mountain-lion-frightening-orange-county-trail-encounter\/18115150\/?linkId=874967400\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">video shared by ABC-owned station KABC-TV<\/a> captured a mountain lion stalking the pair behind some bushes at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park as they attempted to carefully walk away, maintaining a close eye on the animal and using their bikes as protective barriers.<\/p>\n<p>The large feline then emerged from the bushes, trotting towards the pair, who were yelling at it to go away, until it charged at them; however, it ultimately ran off the trail.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-sized__img landscape\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" alt=\"Mountain lions, also known as cougars.\" width=\"720\" height=\"516\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/690cbd07230000e282be267b.jpeg\" \/>Mountain lions, also known as cougars.<\/p>\n<p>National Park Service via Associated Press<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is concerning because that\u2019s what you don\u2019t want,\u201d Mark Girardeau, a community scientist and wildlife photographer, told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically, mountain lions don\u2019t want anything to do with humans,\u201d Girardeau said, adding that the bikers did exactly what anyone is supposed to. <\/p>\n<p>According to the scientist, the mountain lion is a young juvenile, as evidenced by its still-visible spots, which suggests it had recently left its mother. <\/p>\n<p>TheBacklashis Here!<\/p>\n<p>Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n<p>Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n<p>Cut through the chaos<\/p>\n<p>Americans just sent Trump a clear message \u2014 and Dems are calling it &#8220;a 5-alarm fire&#8221; for the president. Our reporters are here to keep you informed and make sense of Washington&#8217;s chaos. Join HuffPost and be part of what happens next.<\/p>\n<p>We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support\" class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message__link js-entry-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"we&#039;re offering an ad-free experience\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support\" class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message__link js-entry-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"we&#039;re offering an ad-free experience\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"cli-support-huffpost__support-button accent-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support?utm_campaign=mid-article-web\" data-vars-item-name-overwritable=\"support-huffpost\" data-vars-item-name=\"Support HuffPost\" data-vars-item-type=\"button\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Support HuffPost<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"support-huffpost-login\">Already a member? <a class=\"js-entry-link-no-impression\" href=\"https:\/\/login.huffpost.com\/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fcalifornia-mountain-lion-encounter-unusual_n_690cbc3be4b0799004d382cd%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1\" data-vars-item-name=\"Log in to hide these messages\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"690cbc3be4b0799004d382cd\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/login\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"utility\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Log in to hide these messages.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe it\u2019s just curious and trying to figure out what these humans are,\u201d Girardeau continued.<\/p>\n<p>Cort Klopping, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2025-11-05\/orange-county-park-closed-after-mountain-lion-sightings\" target=\"_blank\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\" told the Los Angeles Times\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"690cbc3be4b0799004d382cd\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2025-11-05\/orange-county-park-closed-after-mountain-lion-sightings\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> told the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, \u201cThis is super out-of-the-ordinary behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The park has been closed until further notice due to the mountain lion activity. Danielle Kennedy, public information officer with Orange County Parks, told the LA Times that researchers plan to place cameras around the park to track the animal\u2019s activity and investigate the unusual behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experts are raising concerns after a couple of bikers had a frightening run-in with a mountain lion Sunday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1147,192,24228,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-275663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-mountain-lions","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}