Mark Girardeau’s voice got deep and loud as he barked at the big mountain lion staring at him and a friend through the bushes just feet away.
“Get back mountain lion! Get back!” he yelled, standing his ground as the big cat watched without a blink, waiting.
“Back away slowly, don’t go fast,” Girardeau advised friend Rachel de Vlugt. “Chill, just chill. Back away slowly, don’t turn around.”
The two-minute stare down between the duo and the wild cat was caught on camera Friday, Nov. 5, a moment the wildlife photographer is sharing so others know what to do if they encounter one of the predators on local trails.
The wild experience happened just before dark in Trabuco Canyon as Girardeau was checking cameras he set out in wilderness areas in 2015, used to document the species while humans are not around. He regularly posts videos on his website, Orange County Outdoors, and shares the footage with a mountain lion expert at UC Davis.
“That’s the only way to photograph mountain lions because they are so stealthy,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve gotten better at tracking them and following their tracks. It’s fun to see what mountain lions walk around at night when humans aren’t around. It’s a cool way to see it.”
He’s gotten to know about half the cats caught on camera, based on markings or unique characteristics, giving them names to match. Each week, he checks his 10 cameras set in discrete spots and mounted on trees, to change out batteries and memory cards.
A few weeks ago, he missed a lion by just 8 minutes, he noticed after reviewing footage.
He knows to always keep his eye out, just in case, he said. “It’s hard, the mountain lions blend in so well. They know they can camouflage.”
But Friday, he caught something in the corner of his eye.
“All of a sudden, we see something brown running at us from down the hill,” he said. “By the time we looked over, the animal was already 5-to-10 feet from us. It was so close, it was just staring at us. It was basically a stare down.”
Girardeau said it was a scary moment. There was no noise to warn them.
“It had these big eyes, just staring at us,” he said.
“I spend a lot of time in the wilderness, a lot of time you think about what if a mountain lion comes out,” he said. “All of a sudden, there’s a mountain lion in your face.”
After about 15 seconds, Girardeau said he started filming. “No one would believe me that this mountain lion was 10 feet from us, I figured there was nothing else I can do. I might as well film it.”
Most people, and even himself admittedly, instinctively want to run and “get the hell out of there,” he said. “I had to stand my ground and make sure it backed off before we backed off.”
If they ran, the mountain lion might have seen them as prey.
“We can’t outrun it, the best decision is to stand your ground,” Girardeau said. “The mountain lion will be confused, because you have these humans not running away.”
Though a longtime trail runner, de Vlugt said she’s never heard of anyone coming face-to-face with a mountain lion, so she never thought it would actually happen.
“I looked and could see it’s muscular back coming up the slope, up to the trail, right at us,” she said.
“(Girardeau) told me to stand next to him and look big,” she said – she also took out her phone to document the encounter. “I was frozen with fear. My hands were trembling and I could barely talk. There’s nothing like staring into the eyes of an animal that obviously is not afraid of you at all, and could easily attack you if it wanted to.”
Girardeau’s response was caught on camera, filmed as the stare down ensued.
“We’re here mountain lion, GO AWAY!” he said, his voice stern and strong. “GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY.”
“Obviously, I understand the mountain lion doesn’t speak English, but the whole point is to talk and make yourself known and assert your dominance,” he said. “You have to yell and let the mountain lion know, ‘We’re here and not scared.’”
The mountain lion started to move back down the slope, but followed parallel as the two slowly backed up on the trail, keeping their eyes toward the lion until they were separated by more bush and a steeper slope.
“We spent the next 20 minutes basically hyperventilating just in absolute shock of what had just happened,” de Vlugt said. “I’ve replayed the event in my head a thousand times since then, I’m beyond grateful to have been with Mark.”
Girardeau half jokingly credited watching famed dog trainer Caesar Millan, one if his favorite shows, for his tactic.
“I feel like it’s the same,” he said. “I’ve always looked into this about mountain lions and studied what to do and I’m very well aware of what to do in this situation.”
But he also knows such moments are rare, especially considering how many humans are within the big cats’ territory on a daily basis hiking, running and mountain biking.
“They don’t seek out humans to feed on,” he said. “They are usually provoked or there’s something else that causes them to attack, maybe a kill they are trying to protect or they have cubs in the area.”
He later identified the mountain lion as one he knows at “Uno,” a nickname given because only one of the cat’s eyes catches the reflection in his videos, likely due to an injury.
According to Dr. Winston Vickers, associate veterinarian at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, the pair did the right thing by making it well known, by yelling loudly at the lion, that they were human so they were not mistaken as prey.
“Keeping the lion in sight and standing their ground, then continuing to face the lion while they moved away were correct moves,” Vickers wrote in an e-mail. “Throwing things if available – without bending down – or waving clothing, walking sticks, etc. in the air can also be effective and dissuasive.”
“Some people carry air horns, whistles or bear spray, and all can add to the discouraging effect,” Vickers said, though make sure you aren’t downwind of the bear spray.
He noted it is rare for lions to move toward people, with most heading the other direction when they see people. However, females with kittens will sometimes bluff charge a human to drive them away, or in this case the cat may have mistaken them for prey animals until they got closer.
Girardeau will never forget the cat’s big eyes, never blinking, he said. “He didn’t show his teeth or growl at us, I’m glad because that would have been a whole other level.”
If anything, the encounter gives him even more respect for the mountain lions, and he hopes his video will do the same for others.
“Each time a mountain lion gets killed, it’s super sad,” he said, noting there have been several in recent years. “They are just trying to live their life.
“We keep building into their habitat, they don’t have the option to move,” he said. “They are stuck in this island of Santa Ana mountains completely landlocked.”
Want to know more about how to avoid mountain lion encounters, or what to do if you do come close with one? OC Parks has a tip sheet here.
