A hiker is sharing details on the tense moment she came face-to-face with a mountain lion while hiking in Ojai.<\/p>\n
Cortney Rasura says that she was walking alone on the Gridley Trail last week, just as she has for the last decade, when she looked up and found herself staring at the large creature.<\/p>\n
“That was my first time, and I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, this is amazing. This is very rare,'” Rasura recalled while speaking with CBS News Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Though in a state of disbelief, she was still able to pull out her cell phone and start recording the encounter. Footage shows the mountain lion standing on the trail before it breaks off into the brush, then circling back onto the path even closer to where Rasura stood.<\/p>\n
“That’s when I was kind of panicked. Like, why is it coming back?,” she said. “I’ve heard it’s very rare that they attack humans, but you just never know how it’s going to go.”<\/p>\n
After several very tense moments, the animal retreated up the hillside, leaving Rasura behind.<\/p>\n
Experts say that everything she did is exactly what hikers are trained to, and should do when they come across a mountain lion. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says that people should stay calm, maintain eye contact, avoid running or crouching and trying to appear larger.<\/p>\n
They also say that mountain lion attacks are extremely rare, with just one deadly attack in California in the last decade. Still, they advise people stay wary at all times.<\/p>\n