Bicyclist detail scary encounter with mountain lion in Orange County

Two bicyclists in Orange County were out at Whiting Ranch when their ride turned into a heart-pounding standoff with a mountain lion on Monday.

"We came around a turn and the mountain lion was actually on the trail," said Elizabeth Granados, one of the mountain bikers. "We kind of encountered each other. Both of us got startled."

The young mountain lion crept down from the hillside and inched closer. The two bicyclists used their bikes as shields and slowly backed away while keeping the animal in sight.

"Initially, I figured, 'Hey, it's up behind the tree and it's going to go away,'" Granados said. "It didn't. It kept coming towards us. It followed us for a good four minutes."

The tense standoff continued until the mountain lion suddenly lunged. Believing that she was going to die, Granados started praying and screaming at the top of her lungs. 

"I'm like, OK. This is it. This is how we go," Granados said. "I thought we could be killed."

However, the mountain lion quickly darted off the trail and eventually disappeared.

"Realistically, an animal that size and with their strength, their claws, their jaws, we don't really stand a chance," Granados said. 

The Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park is no stranger to mountain lion encounters. In 2004, a mountain lion killed a person in the same area. 

"That's not normal behavior," scientist Mark Girardeau said. "Obviously, you don't want them heading towards a human. They should always be hiding or going away from a human."

Girardeau believes the mountain lion was about a year old and curious about the humans. He added that the cub most likely just separated from its mother and simply did not know how to behave.

"It's very young. It still has spots on it," he said. "Most likely, that mountain lion is curious. To me, it didn't display aggressive behavior."

Girardeau has several wildlife cameras set up in the area and captured a mountain lion with cubs within the last month.

"We know they're always moving in and out of Whiting Ranch," he said. 

Girardeau recommended that people stay large, stay calm and back away slowly. 

"In this case, in the video, they did the right thing," he said.