A hiker from Salt Lake City had a close shave with death when he was stalked by a mountain lion during a hike in Utah. The bone-chilling encounter was caught on camera in which Jared Smith is hiking along the Broads Fork Trail when he first spots the wild cat. The clip has since gone viral on social media, prompting reactions ranging from shock to disbelief to relief.
In an interview to a news website, Smith shared how the cougar suddenly appeared and was within 20-30 feet from him. “I was running back down the trail and was probably about a mile from getting back to the parking lot when I heard something off to the side of the trail,” he said.
RELATED STORY: Dubai resident finds snake in his own bathroom
Though Smith confessed to have been terrified and understandably so, he tried to remain calm and back away from the animal. However, the mountain lion continued to follow for over five minutes. “Periodically, the cougar would pounce, baring its teeth and kicking its legs and its tail up, almost like a little sprint right at me,” Smith told the news website. “If you watch the full video, you can see my voice kind of crack at those points in time because it scared me,” he said.
Almost after five minutes, the animal left the trail. “It was about five minutes into the encounter that she just veered off to the side of the trail and I continued to back up for another minute or two, continuing to talk because I couldn’t see where she went off to,” Smith said. Once sure that the animal was no longer close to him, Smith immediately started running away from the spot.
READ ON: WATCH: Cat safely jumps out from five-storey building
While the incident left Smith rattled, he told the news website that this incident won’t deter him from taking hikes again. “I definitely will take a few days to process this before I go back to trails. I realize this is really uncommon. It’s not something that’s probably going to be happening repeatedly. I’ll be back on the trails soon.” (AW)
