Then, the apparent mother of the cubs started chasing him.
“No, no go away, please go away,” Burgess, a trail runner who was hiking alone, said as he backed away from the cougar pursuing him on the trail.
At one point Burgess says, apparently to the animal, “Come on, dude, I don’t feel like dying today."
The wild cat initially followed him at a slow but steady pace, but then lunged.
Burgess picked up a rock and threw it at the cougar, which then ran away.
“My adrenaline was pumping so much,” Burgess later told NBC Salt Late City affiliate KSL. “I definitely thought, 'Yeah, I was gonna get hurt'."Make a DIY Dog Sling for Added Support. Does your dog have arthritis or weak limbs? If your dog needs some extra support getting up & around you can make your own dog sling to help.
“It was cool, exciting and then it’s like, 'What do I do?'” he said.
This story was originally published on NBCNews.com.