From the Archives: Mountain Lion and Ram Fall to Their Deaths

Editor’s Note: We’ve received a ton of wild photo submissions through the years, but this series of images showing the aftermath of a cougar and sheep that allegedly fell to their deaths is definitely among the most shocking. The series came to us in May 2009, during the old chain email days, through a message to our hunting editor Andrew McKean. The only information to go with the images read: 

“My brother was visiting a friend in Montana and touring through Glacier National Park. They were hiking up a closed road when they came upon this scene. It is evident that the mountain lion and bighorn sheep were fighting on the mountain and fell to their immediate death sometime during the struggle. Pay special attention to the mouth of the mountain lion—it still has sheep hide in its mouth!!!!”

During those early days of our website, we were never able to fully verify, or discredit the story that went with the images. A few smaller websites did pick up the story years later and the series of images even popped up on a Reddit thread almost a decade later. 

Consider this a bit of a cold case from the first years of OutdoorLife.com, but also a truly remarkable reminder of how brutal the predator-and-prey relationship can be.