Dallas, 8, suddenly started screaming during a hike in Big Bend National Park, in Texas. She had been posing with her sisters Jessica, 9, and Meagan, 6, so their mother could take pictures, when Dallas saw a mountain lion ready to pounce.

To read more about human interaction with mountain lions and to watch a video of these great cats in action, click the Enter button below to climb into the multimedia feature "Face to Face." This feature requires the free plug-in Flash Player. If you don't already have this free plug-in, you must leave National Geographic Kids and download Flash. Please get your parents to help you. Downloading plug-ins requires you to give personal information.

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Text by by Fiona Sunquist

Photographs by Peter Adams / Index Stock Imagery, Inc. (sign); Gail Shumway / Taxi / Getty Images (blue-eyed mountain lion); John Giustine / Taxi / Getty Images (cat in snow); Joseph van Os / The Image Bank / Getty Images (cat with kitten); Daniel J. Cox / Natural Exposures (mountain lion in yard)

Map by Martin Walz

Video courtesy National Geographic Television