Moment man on hike realizes he’s being watched by terrifying predator

A man was hiking through the wilderness when he stopped dead, realizing he was being watched.

Maxwell Stobbe, 33, took a hike through Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia, Canada, on Sunday, June 8, and has gone viral as he documented the moment he realized he wasn’t alone on the path.

Stobbe told Newsweek: “I was coming down from Panorama Ridge in Garibaldi Lake, and was about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the parking lot when my friend and I came around the corner on the trail, and there was a mountain lion right in front of us.”

Stobbe shared a clip to his TikTok account, @maxwellstobbe, showing what at first appeared to be a deserted trail with trees in the background. But soon it becomes clear there is something watching him: camouflaged against the bark of the tree is a large cougar, crouched down and not taking its eyes off Stobbe.

The man reacts immediately, shouting out at the cougar but without appearing panicked or making any sudden movements, in a standoff against the animal as he tells it: “Get out of here, big guy.”

Stobbe told Newsweek: “I grabbed the bear spray out and held it just in case, got a quick video and backed away slowly.

“There were two cougars. They wouldn’t get off the trail so we waited for about 45 minutes until there was more people coming down the trail.”

Eventually, when about 15 people had gathered on the path, it was “finally enough to scare them away,” Stobbe said.

In a caption to the video, viewed more than 805,000 times and liked over 53,000 times, Stobbe wrote: “Made a new friend today and ended up getting Garibaldi Lake trail closed.”

British Columbia Parks confirmed in a statement that the BC Parks and Conservation Officer Service responded to cougars in the area, along Rubble Creek trail, on both June 8 and June 9.

“To ensure public safety, BC Parks has since implemented a trail closure for the next week, with the Rubble Creek trail anticipated to reopen on Tuesday, June 17,” BC Parks stated on the website.

Cougars, also known as mountain lions, are found across North America, including 16 states in the U.S.

If hiking in an area with a known mountain-lion population, hikers should refrain from traveling solo, and keep children close by and within sight at all times, the National Park Service advises.

Should you come across a mountain lion, stay calm, do not approach them, do not run and do not crouch or bend. If the animal moves in your direction or acts aggressive, do everything to appear intimidating, including by raising your arms and opening your jacket, and speak in a firm, loud voice.

Newsweek has contacted the BC Conservation Officer Service and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy outside of regular hours for comment on this story.