I was visiting someone at 4 am and had forgotten my cell phone. I decided to sneak around behind their house to tap on their window. Then I heard it... a rustling in the grass nearby, perhaps ten feet away. I didn't have any sort of light source, but remembered that I had my camera on me, so I turned it on, turned on the flash, pointed and clicked. There was a flash in the night, revealing to me for an instant an image of pure horror. Refusing to believe what I had seen, I double-checked the glowing LCD screen of my camera and saw this.
I wouldn't have run as fast if I had seen a cougar. I would have to find another way to make contact.