OK, we all seem to be on the same page in regards to the cougars and bears, now let me tell you a few experiences we had with human predators while camping.
One time my husband and I were camping near the Chilliwack river in BC. This was a popular camp spot close to town but it was off season and we were the only ones there. In the morning, while we were making our breakfast we looked up and two scruffy men with no gear whatsoever approached us and asked us for some matches and food. They said they were on a camping trip. We gave them some food and matches and they left. I asked my husband what kind of campers don't have food or matches with them? He said, the kind that have escaped from the local minimum security prison, a few miles up the road. A half hour later we spotted them on a nearby trellis bridge, just standing there calmly watching us for quite some time. My husband went in our tent and brought out his rifle, cocked it, took off the safety and set it right beside him so they could see it. They immediately took off and that was the last we saw of them.
Friends of ours were not so lucky on one of their fishing trips in the woods. Three fathers and their teenage sons out in the woods, enjoying nature. The fathers all got up very early one morning to go fishing but the boys wanted to sleep in. While they were sleeping a group of drunken, rowdy thugs came into their camp and thought it would be funny to beat the shit out of the boys and rob them. Two of the boys were still half asleep and disoriented but one of the older bigger boys was answering the call of nature nearby and when he realized what was happening came back with a huge broken piece of wood to help his little brother and friend. Also the father's were within shouting distance and ran back to camp to help the boys and the thugs were chased off. The police were called and they were found and charged. The younger boys were beaten and bruised but not critically. What would have happened if they had been there alone without any protection? Or even if it was one full grown man alone? He wouldn't have stood a chance without a firearm. This is just the sad reality of the world we live in. Denial and delusion will only give you a good chance of ending up a victim.