On July 4th Javier Rivera, a security guard at The Ant Farm in Hollywood, California sat at a picnic table in the hills outside San Diego with his three children and a niece, having lunch. The last thing on his mind was the possibility of a cougar attack. However, things were about to change.
The children first heard the large female mountain lion as it approached them, methodically, eyes fixated on Javier, perhaps because he was the largest. Javier had been told that a cougar was not likely to attack a group of people and usually went for the smallest, weakest. He was also told that most animals would not be deterred by pepper spray, odd since pepper spray has been used for years to fend off bears and dogs.
The five of them gathered close together and tried to scare away the cougar by looking large, waving their hands in the air and making noise, but the cat was undeterred. It didn't even flinch but remained focused as if it had decided what it was going to do.
Javier had a TigerLight Non-Lethal Defense System, a very high intensity flashlight with pepper spray dispensing capability, in a portable charger nearby. He asked his son to hand it to him…slowly. He took the light in his hand. However, his hands were shaking so badly he had to hold the light with both hands.
He shined the light directly into the cougar's eyes. She stopped, momentarily, and turned its head to the side, but kept its eyes on Javier. The safety of his children being his first priority, Javier told them to back away while he kept himself between the cougar and the kids. Then things got worse. The cougar seemed to take a more aggressive stance, lowering her head and crouching as she proceeded toward Javier. About 20 feet away now, Javier knew the large cat could close that gap in a split second and he would not be able to make it to the car.
He stepped forward, adrenaline pumping, hands shaking, thinking he was too far for the spray to reach the cougar. He depressed the button and the spray shot out a powerful blast and just barely reached her. She flinched, turned her head away for a moment, not taking her eyes off Javier. Her upper lip came up and she uttered a bone-chilling growl, coming deep from the cats chest that sent chills through Javier. He lunged forward to get the spray closer just as the cat also lunged, having decided, perhaps, that it was time for lunch.
The blast hit her in the face and she stopped in her tracks. He blasted her a third time and then a fourth. The big cat dropped her head to the ground and began rubbing her face in the dirt, attempting to remove the spray, at which time Javier move back to the car as the big cat staggered off, appearing disoriented. Evidently, a cougar is no match for a Tiger.
For more information about the TigerLight visit www.tigerlight.net.
