A Trail Camera Captures How Powerful Mountain Lions Are

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A new video from wildlife photographer Casey Anderson shows how powerful mountain lions really are. It’s a video you do not want to miss.

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In the brief clip, you can see a mountain lion climbing down a tree before diving straight at the camera.

Anderson doesn’t say why the cougar dove at the camera. However, he did comment that the animal “can jump 40 feet horizontally and over 15 feet vertically.” This ability is fully on display in the video.

On top of that, mountain lions can weigh between 60 and 190 pounds, which adds a lot of weight to their already powerful leaping ability. Add the fact that they can bite something with the pressure of 400 pounds per square inch, and you have one of the top predators in North America.

Cougars are known to be stealthy and rarely interact with humans. The big cat chooses to keep its distance. However, there are still documented attacks. For instance, there have been 13 attacks in California since 1996. One was fatal.

Wildlife researchers recommend that anyone in cougar territory take proper precautions.

Safety measures include:

Wearing bright, contrasting clothing to prevent mountain lions from mistaking you for prey.
Making your presence known by talking or whistling.
Keeping children nearby, because they are more often the target of an attack.
Taking a large dog with you.