WATCH: Frightened Hiker Shoots At Charging Mountain Lion
Usually, mountain lions avoid humans.
But, if they become hungry enough, mountain lions will go after humans just like any other prey.
That's why, when exploring the wilderness in places like Wyoming, it's a good idea to bring protection.
Bear spray is good, so is a gun.
This very frightened hiker had a pistol out and pointed at the big cat.
He also had his cell phone in his other hand, recording this video.
I guess the video is evidence of what happened to him if he loses this fight.
The man is backing up, pointing this gun, and telling the cat to get back.
The cat has his ears back, not a good sign, and is approaching.
In the blink of an eye the big cat makes his move, claws out, it charges.
The man fires a warning shot that lands right in front of the animal.
He's not trying to kill the cat.
He's hoping the noise will scare it away.
The first shot startles the big cat and he moves away for a moment.
But then the cat stops as if it's assessing the possible risks.
The man first another shot and a cloud of dust comes up from the ground right behind the cat.
Again, the cat considers the risks.
This time the animal decides to walk away.
If the beast had decided to continue I'm sure the human would have aimed to kill.
I'm not sure where this video was recorded.
What I do know is, this is not the first time a human has scared a big cat away with his gun.
In a few cases, the cat would not back down and had to be shot, like in the video above.
In every case, shooting the big cat was the last thing the human wanted to do, but they had no choice.