A Vashon man’s weekend encounter with the cougar has not prompted change from wildlife officials, who continue to urge islanders to be calm and coexist with the animal.

“There was no attack,” said Sergeant Kim Chandler with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It was just a curiosity thing, so it’s business as usual.”

Tristan Gornall, 26, found himself close to the cougar late Saturday afternoon, when he climbed up a wooded hill behind his family’s home in the 8700 block of SW Dilworth Road. Tristan was not available on Monday to recount the story, but his father, Tag Gornall — a retired veterinarian — did so.

Tristan had gone to fetch a piece of wood about 100 yards away from the house, where he had been clearing ivy. He had just picked it up and turned to leave — and there was the cougar about 6 to 8 feet away. The two made eye contact, and Tristan dropped the wood, Tag said. He backed up a few steps, while the cougar advanced the same amount. Tristan stumbled, and the cat pawed the ground. At that point, Tag said, Tristan, who was carrying a machete, made himself big and began yelling and waving the machete. He walked forward toward the animal, and the cougar receded into the brush.

In the meantime, Tag said, his son called him on his cell phone, and he sped home from town, grabbing a gun when he arrived. Charging up the hill, he said he could hear Tristan yelling, and he fired three shots into the ground to scare off the animal. He had called the sheriff’s office, as had his wife, whom Tristan had also called. By the time Tag reached Tristan, the cougar was no longer visible. Shortly afterward, two deputies arrived, carrying Mace.

“There was no intent to shoot the animal, just to get Tristan out of there,” Tag said.

Tag commended the deputies — and the dispatcher, who stayed on the phone with his wife through the ordeal — for their professionalism.

Situations like this cause a surge in both adrenaline and imagination, he said, and noted that he is not looking to have the animal removed because of what transpired.

He added that in his professional life years ago, he helped tranquilize and remove a cougar from Seattle’s Discovery Park and was once pursued by a polar bear.

Telling the story about his son and the mountain lion, he noted he was at home and looking out at a pond filled with ducks.

“We live in nature. This is part of it,” he said.

— Susan Riemer