{"id":8764,"date":"2025-07-14T09:38:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/8764\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T09:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:38:06","slug":"southern-california-hikers-harrowing-close-call-with-mountain-lion-is-truly-terrifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/8764\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern California Hiker’s Harrowing Close Call With Mountain Lion Is Truly Terrifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

Southern California Hiker’s Harrowing Close Call With Mountain Lion Is Truly Terrifying<\/a> originally appeared on PetHelpful<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Summer is the perfect time to go running, walking, or hiking, but it’s always important to stay aware and be prepared. Whether you’re hiking with your dog<\/a> or going on a solo adventure, you never know what challenges and surprises you may run into.<\/p>\n

One Southern California hiker named Cortney Rasura\u00a0learned this firsthand on July 3 while hiking by herself on the Gridley Trail in Ojai. She was looking at her phone while walking on the popular trail when she caught a glimpse of a mountain lion<\/a>, also known as a cougar, stalking her from the corner of her eye. The moments that followed were tense and terrifying, though thankfully, neither Cortney nor the animal was hurt.<\/p>\n

That was too close of a call! I can only imagine how Cortney felt in that moment when the stalking mountain lion<\/a> stared her down. Talk about a shock to the system!<\/p>\n

While some commenters believed that the mountain lion’s “body language showed he wasn\u2019t concerned with her,” others aren’t so convinced.<\/p>\n

Related: Southern Californian’s Terrifying Close Call With an Angry Puma Is Taking People’s Breath Away<\/a><\/p>\n

“Climbing the cliff is even more dangerous,” another viewer shared. “They’re known to hop on top of their prey from trees and cliffs.” That’s genuinely terrifying!<\/p>\n

Although there was nothing Cortney could have done to avoid this wild animal encounter<\/a>, she responded calmly and effectively when the situation arose. If that were me in her shoes, I’m not sure I would have been so calm.<\/p>\n

“I would cry,” one commenter admitted. Me, too! People often forget that fight or flight responses are instinctual and automatic, but knowing what to do in case of a mountain lion sighting <\/a>could save your life if you find yourself frozen in fear.<\/p>\n

What To Do if You See a Mountain Lion<\/p>\n

As an experienced hiker<\/a>, Cortney knew not to run when she saw the big wild cat. Instead, she maintained eye contact with the cougar and held her ground. Fortunately, most mountain lions are just as eager to avoid confrontation as people are, so the vast majority of encounters end anticlimactically like this one.<\/p>\n

According to the National Park Service, you should stay calm<\/a>, stand still or back away slowly, and appear as large as possible if you see a mountain lion. Don’t bend over or crouch for any reason!<\/p>\n

If the lion begins to move toward you or act aggressively, do everything you can to appear large and intimidating. Raise your arms, open a jacket, or use a loud voice like Cortney did. The idea is to show the lion that you are not prey, which will be even easier in a larger group of people.<\/p>\n

I am so relieved that Cortney and the mountain lion are both perfectly fine after this encounter. Now everyone can breathe a sigh of relief!<\/p>\n

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0for more entertaining videos.<\/p>\n

Or, share your own adorable pet by\u00a0submitting a video<\/a>, and sign up for our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest pet updates and tips.<\/p>\n

Southern California Hiker’s Harrowing Close Call With Mountain Lion Is Truly Terrifying<\/a> first appeared on PetHelpful on Jul 12, 2025<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by PetHelpful<\/a> on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Southern California Hiker’s Harrowing Close Call With Mountain Lion Is Truly Terrifying originally appeared on PetHelpful. Summer is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[8754,192,2354,79],"class_list":["post-8764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-cortney-rasura-learned","tag-environment","tag-mountain-lion","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8764","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=8764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}