The crow perched on a tree branch right above the cat. I was still catching my breath from running on uneven ground and dodging trees as I followed the crow all the way here. The sight of the predator took some of my breath away too. 

Why would the crow bring me to such a dangerous spot? There’s no way he’d try to kill me after all our time together, right? 

That’s when I noticed red. One of the cougar’s back legs was bleeding. It was caught in a metal trap stuck in the ground, the teeth of it sunken into its leg. I remembered when I first came across the rabbit in my arm, lying still and bleeding in the forest as well. I remembered how the crow led me to the rabbit when it was suffering all alone. 

I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t leave this animal to suffer any longer. Sure the crow probably wouldn’t let me leave it since he brought me here, but seeing the wound in its back leg made my heart hurt. No one deserves to suffer, animal or human. 

I lowered my bag and the rabbit to the ground. The rabbit was frozen in front of the predator, his instincts probably making all his fur stand on end. I could feel it too, a primal fear from those eyes and that grimace of teeth. The cougar growled louder at my movement. I slowly put my hands up in a show of peace. I didn’t know how much it would help. I glanced once more up at the crow who silently watched me before taking a step forward. 

The cougar growled again and tensed up. Its trapped back leg twitched as if it wanted to run but knew it couldn’t. I kept taking careful steps forward, my hands stuck up in surrender. 

“I won’t hurt you,” I said. “I just want to help.” 

The cougar didn’t understand my words of course. It continued to growl at my approach. Its eyes were so full of hatred. Or maybe…fear? 

“Please let me help you,” I said. “I know you’re in pain and scared.” 

The cougar’s growl seemed to get quieter. Maybe I was getting through to it? I couldn’t think that just yet though, I wasn’t that foolish. 

I was surprised by how close I had gotten. I was just about in arms reach. The cougar seemed to realize it too. Its front paw moved so swiftly, its sharp claws swiping at me, I barely moved back in time. It even gnashed its teeth at me as it growled louder again. I was stunned for a moment at that close call, my heart thumping hard in my chest. 

The cougar moved back as much as it could, which was only a little bit, still tense and trying to look scary. But I knew it was just scared. I carefully got down to my knees and put my hands on my thighs. 

“Sorry I scared you,” I said. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I just want to help you, if you’ll allow me. That must hurt, right?” I glanced at the metal trap in its leg. 

The cougar didn’t seem to dare take its eyes off me. That was until the crow swooped down by its leg. It quickly followed the movement. The crow seemed to look between us. Then he cawed and pecked at the trap. 

The cougar seemed to take offense to that and lashed out at the crow but he flew up just in time. Then he landed on the cougar’s head, stunning all of us for a moment. The cougar swiped at the crow again but he flew away, caw caw cawing as if he was laughing. Is he teasing this big scary predator right now? 

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Never in my life did I think I’d get this close to a cougar. But here we are. And my crow friend is teasing it? It was all too absurd. 

The cougar’s grimace seemed to fade. I made eye contact with it and tried to get my laughter under control by clearing my throat. 

“My bad,” I said. “I didn’t mean to laugh. Should I help get that trap off of you so you can stop that crow from bullying you?” 

The cougar growled again but it seemed half-hearted. I decided to try shuffling to the side, closer to its back leg. It watched me carefully. I continued shuffling until I was right in front of it. It was out of arms reach but I slowly extended my arm anyway, the cat and I keeping careful eye contact. Once my arm was fully extended, I waited.