Lying in the sun on a rock , the cougar saw Jeb and his son Tom before they saw it . Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands , making himself look big to the cougar . It worked . The cougar hesitated , ready to attack Jeb , but ready to forget the whole thing , too . Jeb let go of his jacket , grasped Tom and held him across his body , making a cross . Now the cougar's enemy looked even bigger , and it rose up , ready to move away , but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb . " Tom , no ! " shouted his father . But Tom broke and ran and that's the last thing you do with a cougar . The second Tom broke free , Jeb threw himself on the cougar , just as it jumped from the rock . They hit each other in mid-air and both fell . The cougar was on Jeb in a flash , leaving Tom alone , which was what Jeb wanted . Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance , even with just his fists . As the cougar's claws got into his left shoulder , Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard . The animal howled and put its head back . Jeb followed up with his other fist . Then out of the corner of his eye , Jeb saw Tom . The boy was running back to help his father . " knife , Tom , " shouted Jeb . The boy ran to his father's bag , while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting , to keep the cougar's attention away from Tom . Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb . The cougar was moving its head in and out , trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms . Tom swung with the knife , into the cougar's back . It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains . The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds . What can we learn from the passage about cougars ?
They always forget things . They dislike loud noises . They like to attack running people . They hesitate before attack .