Watch This Tree Climber Come Face-To-Face With a Cougar, 30 Feet in the Air

Regardless of how on-brand it is for some animals to do certain things, it is still baffling that they are capable of some cool tricks. Climbing is one of the many things some animals can do that still seems oddly strange. It is common knowledge that climbing is second nature to animals like monkeys or koalas, but it is fascinating to see when other animals, like big cats, do it. Imagine going tree climbing and coming face to face with a big cat like a cougar. This is exactly what a man experienced in a viral video. 

Watch the Incredible Video Below!

Also called mountain lions, these big cats can be found in several parts of the Americas and can jump at least 20 feet into the air. In addition to their jumping prowess, these cats can also climb really high. They prefer to live in forests, mountainous deserts, and lowland areas, and it is easy to come across them on walks, hikes, or even mountain climbing adventures. However, of all the places you can run into these cats, a 30-foot-high tree is one of the most interesting.

The video shows a tree climber making his way up a tree with the help of a harness and a rope attached to the tree. While some people enjoy climbing trees for leisure, there are professionals known as arborists who do so on a daily basis for a variety of purposes, including the maintenance, management, and research of certain trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. There are also other professionals who climb trees solely to save stranded animals. 

Cougars are exceptionally well-adapted animals. Although the process of the cougar’s ascent into the tree is not shown in the video, these cats are known to be excellent athletes and excel at climbing, running, and even swimming.

Are Cougars Aggressive?

Generally, cougars are not aggressive toward humans unless disturbed. One interesting fact about these cats that makes them different from other big cats is their inability to roar. Instead, they have other ways of communicating, like hissing and screaming. Their screams are more of a mating ritual, but their hissing is to communicate their discomfort or hatred. The cougar in the video is on a different tree from the climber, but he still hisses at the man to let him know he does not like his presence. If the cougar felt threatened enough, it could have easily jumped to attack the man. 

In the background of the video, there are several dogs barking at the foot of the tree. It is easy to believe that the cougar was up in the tree hiding from these dogs because cougars usually spend hours in trees hiding from predators. People in the comment section point out that the climber might have had several dogs with him to scare away the cougar from the area. 

Many, according to the comments in the comment section, also believe that the climber was trying to make the area safe for humans and set the dogs loose to chase the cougar before it climbed up the tree. These people believe that the man only went up another tree to try to get the cougar to come down. 

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Kwadrat/Shutterstock.com