With respect to cougars, it's something that could happen in a natural context, but I'm sure it would be extremely rare. Dale Woodson is the man who first saw the creature and shot the video. He said he was forced to shoot it at long range because he's afraid. The thought occurred to me that it's probably not the wisest place to be. Woodson said he has seen the animal seven times, the first time last summer, the morning after he had noticed a small herd of deer bedding down on the hillside.
Deer are a main food source for cougars, which are a protected species in California.
It was early in the morning, about 7 o'clock, and I saw the silhouette of a cat as it was moving up the ridgeline. I looked at it and instantly knew that it was something I'd never seen before. So I ran inside and got my wife and daughter up and dragged them to the window so they could confirm it. I gave the binoculars to my wife and it was she that first called out and said, 'That's not a mountain lion. Mountain lions are kind of a gold color.