I'm still a bit shaken up.

I went to Burnaby Mountain this morning to check out the former Camp Cloud site that was dismantled earlier this week. I spent about a hour and a half sitting on a stump in front of the terminal entrance, waiting for people to walk by so I could interview them for a story.

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I was just about to leave when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and, maybe eight-to-10 metres away, I saw what I thought was a baby cougar. It came out from the bushes near the trail east of the tank farm, and just casually wandered toward the fence.

I was kind of freaked out.

Now that the camp is gone, the area is pretty deserted. I think I only saw about 10 people, and maybe five or six cars come and go from that area in the time I was there.

It was just me and the wildcat.

But, I was torn. I'm a journalist and I had my camera on me. Should I get closer? If I do, I might get a great photo.

I stepped back closer to the road, but got out my camera, just in case it reappeared.



We made eye contact, but it looked as afraid of me as I was of it. - Lauren Boothby

It did. This time, it popped out from behind the bushes and crossed in front of the gates.

We made eye contact and it walked toward me. It seemed as scared as I was.

It quickly ducked its head and wandered around the security box and headed west along the path.

Phew! Crisis averted, and I got a pretty nice photo too.

Was it worth it? I don't know, but as my car is broken I'm relying on public transit, I couldn't exactly get out of there quickly.

I called a taxi because I was not about to walk along that path near the wooded area alone. I crossed the street to keep my distance, and kept my eyes peeled in case this young-looking bobcat's mom decided to make an appearance.

I almost trampled the taxi when it arrived. I jumped in, and I vented about what I had seen.

He laughed at me the whole drive out. I don't blame him: I was hysterical. He got me laughing too. It was a nice way to defuse the tension before I sat down to write this story.