Cougar versus wolf. Predator versus predator. Natural killer versus natural killer.
It was an animal kingdom death match of epic proportions, and a Lake Cowichan man captured it all on video with his smartphone as a cougar and a wolf tore into each other in the B.C. backcountry.
Rod Mizak says he was driving down a logging road at night with some friends when they heard commotion in the woods nearby. Mizak stopped his truck and leaned out his window to witness a wolf and a cougar engaged in a heated battle near the edge of the road.
"We were all in awe. We were silent, watching this go on in front of us," Mizak told CTV Vancouver Island.
He quickly pulled out his smartphone and an LED light to capture the fight on video.
Mizak says he vividly recalls "the first initial hit" as the two predators squared off, up to "the crunch of the spine" when the cougar finally killed the wolf. "I relive it still," he said.
He says the wolf had the advantage early in the fight, when each animal had the other locked in its jaws. He admits he may have influenced the fight when he made a move that startled the wolf, causing it to flee. "Then the wolf decided to let go and the cougar made one leap and nailed the wolf," Mizak said.
The fight took place about six metres from Mizak's truck, but the animals moved closer as it progressed, he said.
"I can't believe that I was there," Mizak said.
Conservation officer Steven Ackles says it's "quite unreal" for someone to see a predator-versus-predator fight like the one Mizak witnessed.
"To attack another animal that could actually fight back, that is another predator, is pretty rare," he said.
