Anna Nielsen

"When it jumped on her I immediately grabbed her shirt and pulled her toward me and at the same time I struck the animal," he said.

"It’s not even like I was thinking, it was one big moment, my instincts said get her out of there," he said. "That’s my baby, you know."

The cougar let go but circled around, looking for another way to get to Bree.

"It didn't leave right away I had to yell 'get out of here, get out of here,'" said Nielsen. Finally, it backed off as his wife whisked Bree back to the house.