Running is hard enough all by itself. It's even more difficult when a potentially hungry mountain lion is blocking your path as a jogger just learned in a new video.

According to the video description, the guy originally thought he was about to encounter a coyote. Nope. It was a much bigger predator.

https://youtu.be/mswkApeQ1-M

Here's how he described it:

While on my morning run...I thought I have seen a coyote coming my way, I slow down to make sure I would not have a close encounter with the supposed coyote. To my surprise, it was not a coyote, but a mountain lion. After looking at me for over 5 mins he/she turned around.

Was this guy really in danger? That depends on who you ask. Mountain Lion.org describes human encounters with mountain lions are rare. They make a valid point:

If lions had any natural urge to hunt people, there would be attacks every single day. Instead, they avoid us.

True, but there have been some rather intense mountain lion encounters this year. There was the story about the runner who had a very aggressive mountain lion back him down a road. There was also video of a mountain lion who appeared to be stalking children playing in the street.

This jogger made a good call to calmly back away and give the cat space. Why take a chance on angering a mountain lion who could have harmed him in a big way.

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