Man Comes Face-To-Face With Cougar While Hiking In South OC

TRABUCO CANYON, CA — An Orange County man came face-to-face with a mountain lion while hiking on a south county trail Wednesday evening, NBC 4 reported.

Wildlife photographer Mark Girardeau was in Trabuco Canyon checking motion-activated cameras in the area when he noticed the cougar staring at him a short distance away.

"I was on my way up the hill to check some other cameras when I suddenly spotted her," he told NBC 4. "She was sitting there, just a couple hundred feet away, staring right at me."

Girardeau, who has been photographing wildlife since 2014, is no stranger to encounters with big cats. This is his fourth meeting with a mountain lion, according to the report.

"Each time it is scary, though," he said. "It's really awesome to see one, but you also don't want to see one that close to you."

To learn more about the Orange County photographer's close encounter with a big cat in Trabuco Canyon, view the full article on NBC 4.