SN Monthly photographer Carlye Calvin captured this award-winning photograph of a mountain lion in Montana’s Glacier National Park, and she’d love to get a picture of one of the mountain lions that’s been hanging out recently on the mesa. "They’re beautiful animals, but very hard to spot," she says. "A lot of times you can walk by a mountain lion and not see it, because they really blend into the environment."

After a pair of mountain lions was sighted near the mesa water tower in late February, SaSS urged employees—as well as hikers who use the mesa—to exercise some caution. If you come face-to-face with a mountain lion, here are the steps that you may wish to follow:

1. Stop walking and look straight at the mountain lion, allowing it to assess the situation. Make yourself look as big as possible, perhaps by lifting your arms.

2. Start to back away slowly, since the more distance there is between you and the mountain lion, the safer both of you will feel.

3. If the mountain lion advances, yell at it in a deep voice. Throw anything you can at it, like a water bottle or a backpack—or even strike it if it’s close enough.

SaSS’s Melinda Powers is in charge of keeping staff informed about the dangers. But she makes no secret of her desire to see the lions in their native habitat, signing her e-mail updates "Melinda (wishing I could see them) Powers." She clarifies: "I’d love to see one through a telephoto lens—a safe distance for both of us."