Watch as a mountain lion sneaks up on a coyote wandering at night in California video

There aren’t many meat eaters in the U.S. more sneaky than a coyote. But one recently had the bad luck of being spotted by a mountain lion lurking in the dark, California video shows.

Trail camera footage shows a lone coyote trotting past at night, unaware it’s being followed by a bigger and more dangerous animal. The coyote wanders out of view and a cougar appears, following close behind.

For a few seconds, nothing is heard or seen. Then the silence is broken by panicked yipping in the distance.

The video was captured by photographer Nathalie Orozco on Sept. 27 in an undisclosed area of Orange County, Mark Girardeau of Orange County Outdoors told McClatchy News in an email.

“After checking the area, we noticed lots of coyote fur but did not locate a kill so we’re uncertain of the outcome,” an Oct. 5 Facebook post said. “Our guess is that the mountain lion was successful based on other nearby cameras which showed him hanging out in the area for the entire night afterwards.”

“A coyote can outrun a mountain lion (given proper notice) but mountain lions are ambush specialists,” the post read.

While mountain lions tend to feast on large, small and mid-size prey animals, they are known to attack and kill coyotes as well — though competition is sometimes the cause.

Between 4,000 and 6,000 mountain lions call California home, according to estimates. However, experts say the true number is unknown and difficult to calculate.

This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Watch as a mountain lion sneaks up on a coyote wandering at night in California video."