Manitoba man stalked by lynx while sledding with family

A Manitoba man says he can still feel the adrenaline after coming face-to-face with a lynx that had been stalking him and his family while tobogganing in Northern Manitoba.

Jordan Omand said he was out tobogganing in Norway House, Man., with his three young children and their small dog on Tuesday.

He said it was a nice day, until someone in a nearby truck started yelling at them.

"The guy rolls down his window, and he's like, 'Hey, there's a cat coming, there's a cat coming. You guys get to your vehicle," Omand told CTV News.

"At first, I didn't know what to think – it's like, a cat?"

Omand said he turned in the direction the man was pointing, and that is when he saw it.

"I see this Lynx making its way towards us in the snow," he said.

"It was crouched low, it was moving quickly through the snow, his eyes were locked, and I was just like, 'Well, we got to get out of here’."

Omand said once he was able to get his children and dog safely in the vehicle, he decided to go back out to see if the lynx was still there.

Climbing over the hill and peering out, he was shocked to come face-to-face with the cat – a moment he captured on video and later shared to social media.

"It was probably like within 10 feet. I got startled, the cat I think got startled too," he said with a chuckle, adding he backed away and got back in his vehicle.

"I know that lynx could probably do some extensive damage to me with the claws and the teeth, so I just I backed away."

CTV News has reached out to Manitoba Conservation for comment.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Conservation previously told CTV News encounters with lynx are pretty rare as they typically prefer to avoid people.

They said while lynx are not known to be aggressive, someone approaching or running away could provoke a defensive reaction. Manitoba Conservation says people who come across lynx should stand tall while facing the animal and back away. If the lynx tries to approach, people should get loud to scare it off.

A day after the close encounter, Omand said he can still feel the adrenaline.

"It was just a pretty, pretty incredible experience. I don't even know what to say. I still can't believe that happened," he said. "Seeing a lynx is pretty rare, something that just doesn't happen. To have it approach people, like a family or anything like that, you don't hear about that."

Omand said he realizes the day could have turned out very differently, and is thankful for the quick and keen eyes of the people who warned him. He said he plans to be more cautious next time the family goes out sledding.

"The wilderness is our backyard, and we do share this land with the animals out there," he said. "They got to eat too, but we were not on the menu."