Going in to Cougar Country unarmed. At least they should have taken hunting knives.
Abandoning their partner. They should have put up an united front against the lion. Defending each other both might have survived.
First one ran then the other. The first to run died.
I really enjoyed the picture of the cougar on the other FR thread. Being so old that I CAN outrun the cougars interested in me is depressing. A roller blader or bicycle rider has to look a lot like the red dot from a laser pointer to a mountain lion. My cats love the damn red dot. But I don’t run from them either. But they know I carry all the time. They are cats not stupid. The mountain lion is the largest of the feline that purr. I don’t know if cougars do or not, I’d like to say I do but never got that close to rub the cougars belly.