Family encountered a cougar in their yard (7 photos + 1 video)
The surveillance camera captured the moment the cougar ran into the yard and came within a meter of the residents. The incident occurred on Saturday in Washington state while the Havener family was relaxing outdoors. 
Spouses April and Greg and their 9-year-old daughter were on their back patio when they came face to face with the predator.
The family's cat, Taxi, was the first to greet the uninvited guest. She chased him and ended up among the people. 
"I think the cougar was just as shocked to see us as we were to see her," April told KOMO-TV.
Greg added: "It was a lot bigger than I expected. It wasn't a bobcat. It took me a few seconds to realize that. Very big."
The meeting took the family by surprise. April did not immediately realize the seriousness of the situation, and her daughter immediately hurried to hide. 
“My cat is walking, all in his business,” Greg comments on the footage. “A puma runs out of the forest, rushes across the yard and ends up among us.”
"And then the scariest moment of the video. The cougar turns its head and looks at April and her daughter, and we don't know what she was thinking." 
The family rushed into the house and remained unharmed; their pets were also saved.
"We don't fully understand what happened." 
Now the Haveners fear the beast's return. 
Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare in western Washington. In February, a predator attacked a group of five cyclists on a trail outside Fall City. The 60-year-old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries to her face, neck and jaw, but she survived. 
In July 2023, a cougar attacked an 8-year-old child in Olympic National Park in Los Angeles. According to representatives of the National Park Service, the mother scared the animal away by screaming. Fortunately, the victim suffered only minor injuries.
In May 2018, a cougar killed 32-year-old cyclist S.J. Brooks near North Bend. His friend, 31-year-old Isaac Sederbaum, was injured.
