Video: Mother and Daughter Come Face to Face With Mountain Lion

Coming face to face with a wild animal is terrifying enough, but doing so in your own backyard is especially scary. That's what happened to a family in Washington state found recently when a mountain lion made its way onto their property and came just a few feet from them. 

The bone-chilling encounter was caught on home security video. It all happened on May 11 when members of the Havener family were outside in their yard. Suddenly, a massive cougar emerged from the nearby woods and chased after the family's two cats. The animal then came within a few feet of April Havener, her young daughter, and their two-month-old puppy. 

The girl immediately ran inside while April picked up the puppy and sped indoors. "I think it was just as shocked by seeing us as we were shocked by seeing it," April Havener told KOMO. 

The cougar then came close to Greg Havener, who was in the driveway washing his car. He thought it was a bobcat at first but quickly realized he was wrong. 

"As I came around the car, it was way bigger than I expected," he said. "It was not a bobcat. It took me a few seconds to realize, 'This is very large. It’s a cougar.'"

"We all went our separate ways and left it at that," he added. 

Thankfully, no one was hurt, including any of the animals on the property. While cougar attacks are considered very rare in the region, they have happened before in recent years.