Kat's Mountain Lion Photos (Trail Camera Photography)

Busy night around here. I am not positive, but this lion looks bigger to me than what looks to be the female from yesterday. Also reading up on these cats, the males leave scrapes and this one definitively made a pile of cones and sticks and left a very large scat, just off sight of the first camera..
Until now this looked the trail up, but this guy ( ?) came down it and then went to my furthest camera as well.
I am only posting a few, but this was the best day yet. Within a couple of hours there were deer :(, a skunk, the older bobcat and this mountain lion.

Wow those are some great pictures! You are really fortunate to have this kind of wildlife in your backyard but I must admit that it'd give me the heebie-jeebies knowing that big buy is lurking in the immediate area.

Amazing!

But now I'm a bit hesitant to bring my kids to your house…

"Also reading up on these cats, the males leave scrapes and this one definitively made a pile of cones and sticks and left a very large scat, just off sight of the first camera.."

Excellent pictures! I thought the bobcat was a cheetah at first, with the long legs and short muzzle, but the short tail gave it away, not to mention you're not in Africa. Just a first impression.

I read somewhere that mountain lions bury their scat. Did this one make any attempt to cover up?

@Ian.
I am definitely circumspect and a little afraid as well. I now wear a hat with big sewed on eyes in the back. I heard villagers in India wear masks on the back of their heads and it has cut down on attacks from Bengali Tigers, because cats like to attack from behind and big eyes are a deterrent.

@Casey.
Well, we would just stick close by….I have little ones that visit and used to let them hike a few yards ahead of me on the trail. Not anymore; I carry them now.

@Tom
This cat made several scrapes on the trail and left the scat right on top. I cannot tell you how strong it smells…..pretty amazing. In my series of pictures on Flickr you can see the last one when only the tail shows and it's all curled up while "depositing the scat". It was just beyond the range of the camera. My cats bury theirs, but from what I read when big male cats do this they are leaving a clear message; either just marking their territory or leaving it for a female. I repositioned the camera…..we'll see.

Edited. Tom, I did not upload all the pictures, but after the last one at 7:16:53 there were three more just showing the tail and giving a hint of what was happening there.

"This cat made several scrapes on the trail and left the scat right on top. I cannot tell you how strong it smells…..pretty amazing. In my series of pictures on Flickr you can see the last one when only the tail shows and it's all curled up while "depositing the scat". It was just beyond the range of the camera. My cats bury theirs, but from what I read when big male cats do this they are leaving a clear message; either just marking their territory or leaving it for a female. I repositioned the camera…..we'll see."

I'll be looking forward to the next chapter.

"Edited. Tom, I did not upload all the pictures, but after the last one at 7:16:53 there were three more just showing the tail and giving a hint of what was happening there."

Deleted. Apologies for attempted humor in a serious thread. :(

Hey Kat, are you worried at all about your house kitties with these big kitties roaming around?
Awesome pictures, hopefully you can get one of a mountain lion during the day.

Justin,
Yes, I am worried. We have two cats. Mama cat is mostly indoors and I close the window at night so she stays in. Our boy cat "Banana" is a hunter and travels far and wide; he did not get fixed until he was bigger and he usually comes home only two or three times a week. Thankfully he has been here this whole last week, which makes me wonder if he knows the big cats are around and he is choosing to stay safe. Honestly I think with him it is only a matter of time, sooner or later something will get him; I may sound calloused, but I am not. I care about this cat a lot and I try to keep him in when I can. I know some people think I should just make him an indoor cat only, but I won't; he is having a great life and I will not force him to live indoors only. I know I might get flamed here…

"I know I might get flamed here…"

You sure shouldn't. It is the way he was meant to live, free until he dies. The only problem comes when cats live free in urban areas, where they kill inordinate numbers of song birds and dig their cat holes in other people's gardens. I'm glad you didn't fix him until he was older, too. That way he hopefully got to experience that part of a free cat's life as well. Good for you.

Nice pics Kat!

I agree with your attitude re: the house cats–to some extent nature has to run it's course despite human feelings and attachments. Hopefully the house cats are smart enough to stay out of trouble, and hopefully the big Cats are not inclined to eat something that might sort of smell akin to themselves.

Btw, re: India and tigers, i've heard that too, but i've also heard that some of the tigers have caught on to the trick, and it's not a deterrent as they seem to be able to tell the difference after awhile–but this seems to be rare from what i've read.

Oh, i've heard that for Cougars, cinnamon actually acts more like catnip with them, than catnip does with certain other species of cats. Might be interesting to see a reaction to it on camera sometime. I learned this at the Big Cat Rescue down near/in Tampa Bay FL wherein they house many different kinds of big cats. Oddly, some big cats really prefer catnip, and some really prefer cinnamon, and i seem to remember that cougars tend to prefer the cinnamon overall.

Just a preview. I have over 100 from this morning :)

Wow! Great photo!

That one looks like he could use a meal soon – keep wearing your hat!

Here are a few. Hard to choose.

Many more will be on Flickr

Date and time are wrong. I didn't set them on my camera. But this is 5 minutes up the hill from the other one.

Whoa Kat!!!

I'm in awe.

These are all so cool Kat, thanks for sharing. That's a beautiful lion you've got in your backyard.

I am really enjoying seeing these, Kat! Thanks so much for posting them. It's pretty amazing to see these cats in such detail; they are beautiful animals.

That is too cool how low that cat can crouch and move. What would happen if see hung some meat about eight feet up in front of the camera? A jump shot!

Thanks everyone for coming along with me on this little journey. It's been very satisfying. I took my daughter along with me this afternoon and when we put the SD card in the field viewer and saw the first two close up pictures she was ready to go home asap. :-0

Kat, these are so cool! I'd love to know more about all this. What do you look for in a camera that can do this kind of stuff? Are they heavy, could I take one backpacking and set it up near camp to see what critters visit me during the night? How do you know where to set them up?

Amazing photos! Nice work and thanks for sharing.

Are you in touch with these guys? http://santacruzpumas.org/research/
I bet they would love all the data you're collecting.

I have lived in the middle of them for 13 years and hiked all over the place around here. I know they have seen me, but I still have not seen one in the wild. Guess that is their specialty, so no surprise. A few days ago there was a hullabaloo a few houses up, but of course I missed it, where a guy found one clamped to his dog and had to kick it to get it off. Apparently the dog was not too bad off. Maybe mountain lion plays with their food for a bit sometimes too – like a house cat.

Anyway, jealous!

The cat in your pictures doesn't look all that well fed – though maybe I'm comparing them to the fat and happy ones at the desert museum.

I left my trail camera out on Sunday night near Columbia, and all I got was one stinking raccoon video.

–B.G.–

Just had the family gathered around the computer oohing and ahing over your pictures. We're interested in trying this out too and would love to hear more about your hardware.

Love how that mountain lion stalked your camera.