a couple years ago i was hiking up to the natural hot springs with my wife and i smelled something nasty...kind of a combo or moldy, wet, puke, and piss....so, i knew what it was and kept my eyes in the bushes waiting to see some eyes staring back at me. i finally saw what was stalking us. it was a cougar slinking through the bushes pretty close. it was moving with us all crouched down. we made eye contact and it started doing the hissy growly noise, so i pulled out my gun and fired a couple shots, not at it, but right next to it. it ran off with its tail between its legs and i was very glad i had a gun. who knows what would have happened. i wasnt in the mood to wrestle with a big cat.