The big cat stared at the photographer clutching his camera for about five minutes, then started slowly walking closer.
Mark Girardeau stumbled upon the mountain lion in Trabuco Canyon on Wednesday, July 14, while checking on cameras set out in discrete spots to document the region’s wildlife. He shares the footage that’s been collected since 2015 with UC Davis researchers.
Girardeau said he started calling the cat Uno a few years ago due to an injured eye that doesn’t give a nighttime reflection on video. He said he thinks she’s about 6 years old. Last year, she had four kittens, all of which died, but due to her growing belly, she might be pregnant again, he said.
This week’s encounter wasn’t his first in-person with Uno.
In 2021, Girardeau and a friend were hiking in the same area when they had a two-minute stare down with Uno. Girardeau barked at her, remembering what he learned about showing dominance when encountering a mountain lion.
“Get back mountain lion! Get back!” he yelled during that intense encounter also caught on camera, where Uno came to within 5-to-10 feet from the duo, who stood their ground before the lion took off.
During a second encounter last year, Girardeau was in his car as she passed by.
In this third encounter, he said he saw an object up on the hill and it took him a few seconds to realize what he was seeing.
“She was just taking in the view. You could tell I just happened to stumble upon her while she was relaxing,” he said.
Despite his shaking hands, Girardeau said he got his camera out to record the interaction. He knew he had to document the encounter, he said, especially because he was out of cell service reach and if something did happened, he wanted to make sure it was documented.
Then for five minutes, they stood there in silence, staring at each other, he said.
“I knew not to turn my back. She’s in a mellow state, not hunting or being aggressive at all, I just knew it was good to not turn my back,” he said. “I just held my ground.”
He was scared, he said, but had no choice but to remain calm. He walked backward into some bushes to make space for her to pass, he said.
“OK, wow, this is kind of crazy,” he can be heard saying on the video before adding she was coming toward him.
She stayed on the other side of the trail as she went by.
“It was obvious she was not interested in me and wanted to get by and I was in her way,” Girardeau said.
There is a moment when the video fumbles, Girardeau said that’s when he was trying to get his emergency bear spray off safety mode.
“If she would have turned at me or made aggressive moves toward me, I would have sprayed it,” he said. “It was a very peaceful encounter. It was definitely scary, but at the same time, it was very mellow. It was clear she was just going about her life. Like I just totally intruded on her.”
There was one problem: The cat walked in the direction he was going, toward his car.
So he followed.
“I didn’t want her to hide in the bush somewhere, have me go down the hill and stumble upon her and her attack in defense,” he said, noting he stayed about 100 feet behind.
He went up to check another camera a few minutes away and when he returned, she was hanging out next to his car, Girardeau said. “I had to wait for her to move.”
Then he got in his car and she again passed by, he said, allowing him to get more footage of the majestic creature.
“It was definitely not as nerve wrecking in the car since I’m sitting behind aluminum,” he said. “I was able to enjoy it more. In the car, I was expecting her, so I could fully appreciate the sighting.”
Girardeau’s goal in documenting local wildlife, he said, is to show their natural behaviors and dispel misconceptions. He likens mountain lions to sharks, both getting back reputations.
“But really, how many swimmers and surfers are in the water every given day and how few shark attacks are there,” he said. “It’s the same as the mountain lion. If there’s an attack, it’s in the news, but there’s rarely ever good encounters that make the news.”
Following the famed Los Angeles area P22 mountain lion’s death earlier this year, Uno is on her way to stardom. Photos of her on trails pop up and she’s part of a research project by UC Davis to use solar batteries on her tracking collar.
Girardeau said he hopes the research shows the lions are not out trying to attack people and there are ways to stay safe by being educated and prepared.
“We can be in the wilderness with these animals, with the appropriate behavior,” he said. “Mountain lions, once they are seen, typically don’t like to attack. They are ambush predators. Uno saw that I saw her… she had no interest in me. The main goal is to show people these animals are out there living their life, they have no choice to go anywhere else. We’ve encroached on their land.”
