A Texas couple visiting Durango, Colorado says they were stalked by two mountain lions while hiking with their infant daughter on the Purgatory Trail System earlier this week.

Will and Rylea Sadler were walking on a familiar trail, with their daughter strapped into a baby carrier, when they encountered the first mountain lion, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) in Durango.

They noticed the first lion, who reportedly trailed 10-15 feet behind them, when Rylea heard a noise, the couple told Denver7.

“This thing was huge. It’s bigger than any cat I’ve seen at the zoo. Its head was as big as a football,” Will said in an interview with the station.

The couple slowly backed away from the animal and called 9-1-1, when they spotted a second, smaller, lion. The family stood their ground and started waving sticks in the air, a common tactic used to deter mountain lions.

Search and Rescue teams then extracted the hikers by Flight for Life helicopter from Durango’s Mercy Hospital.

“This was written up as a sighting,” said CPW Durango’s public information officer John Livingston, “They reported seeing an adult lion and a potential yearling. The family was pretty shaken up.”

Mountain lion attacks are incredibly rare, so rare that there have been fewer than a dozen fatalities in North America in more than 100 years, according to CPW.

Although, the family’s experience was admittedly harrowing, it does not appear that they were in any immediate danger from the animals.

“No predatory or defensive behavior was reportedly displayed with this sighting, and it’s uncommon for CPW to relocate animals in these kind of situations,” Livingston said.

Although encounters with mountain lions do not happen often, you should still be prepared if you live in or venture into shared mountain lion spaces.

If you see a mountain lion, CPW recommends that you do not approach the animal, remain calm, back away slowly, do all you can to appear larger, and if the lion becomes aggressive—fight back.

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