Man films encounter with possible mountain lion in Minnesota

March 20 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man shared video of what appears to be a rare face-to-face encounter with a mountain lion in the state.

Brent Hesse posted a photo and a video to Facebook showing a cougar looking back at a him in the New Ulm area before running off.

Hesse said at least one other mountain lion sighting has been reported in the area.

The state Department of Natural Resources said it has not yet confirmed whether the animal spotted by Hesse was a mountain lion, but the animals have been caught on trail cameras in the southern part of the state this year.

"What's helpful to us is if after somebody gets a photograph on a trail camera of a mountain lion," Joe Stangel of the Minnesota DNR told KEYC-TV. "If you can go out and put something that has scale or show us other photos from that same vantage point. Scale makes a big difference in helping us determine the size of the animal."

The DNR issued a reminder not to try to kill mountain lions, as they are a protected species in the state.