Caught on video: Man hiking with daughter, friends scares off mountain lion in Malibu
A man hiking with his daughter and friends scared off a mountain lion in the Nicholas Flats area of Malibu Thursday.
Austin Podrat recorded video of the big cat, which he says he scared off by yelling, "go away." Podrat had been walking with his 6-year-old daughter, two young friends, and another father at the time.
The video shows the large mountain lion stop to look at them for a moment before trotting off into the bushes. The mountain lion did not appear to be wearing a collar that would indicate it was part of the National Park Service study of big cats in the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area.
This was the second mountain lion encounter in Southern California in a week. No one was hurt in Thursday's encounter, but on Monday, a mountain lion bit a 7-year-old boy on the rear as he walked with his father in Pico Canyon Park in Stevenson Ranch, about 40 miles away. Fish & Wildlife officials used DNA to confirm the injury was caused by a mountain lion bite, and the park has been closed since then.
Both encounters took place while the sun was up, so both incidents were unusual because mountain lions are typically nocturnal animals who typically prefer to hunt at night.
