Little mountain lions

I like the little laggard; the third kitten. Either a bit stupid or off in a world of his/her own. A poet. She’ll grow up to be a solo hiker, maybe. That or she’ll grow up to eat a solo hiker.

I’ve already named the little buggers. The one in front is Nick, he’s got a bit of ‘every cub for itself’ vibe going. The carefree one hopping on the log, that’s Peter (as in Vacco), just bopping through life all devil-may-care and stuff. The dawdler? That’s Ian. Don’t ask.

The best thing on the internet right now.

Watching the videos on a Mac with Firefox v 48.0.2 without issue.

“The dawdler? That’s Ian. Don’t ask.”

(ahem) Shameless dawdler.

There is the dawdler

It’s official.  The dawdling cub is my spirit animal.

In the name of Odin I don’t know what y’all are in such a damn hurry for.  We’re hiking through the wilderness, not sprinting to get the last thigh-master at Walmart on Black Friday.

Plus I’m fat and can’t move any faster.  So there’s that.

The dawdling cub sometimes stays behind because there are such interesting things to smell and see on the trail.

Kat these videos and photos are fantastic. Thank you! It’s amazing how similar their behavior and movements are to those of domestic cats.

Your videos and photos always make me think how many lions I must have passed hiking or trail running in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I know they are there, have seen their prints, have come across their kills, but haven’t yet had the pleasure of a live sighting. Only bobcats so far.

Thank you also for the wildlife cam advice – my friend loves the cam I gave him that you recommended.

PS Is there any way to prevent the internal camera noise other than editing post capture?

@Ethan

thanks for the kind words. I am glad I was able to help with the camera suggestion :)

As far as that noise…nothing I can do about it. It’s a new company ( and they gave me many free cameras in exchange for being able to use my footage) and the cameras are a bit glitchy. The daytime shots have incredible resolution and some of the daytime videos are pretty impressive too. They are a bit clunky to use, not as fast to trigger as the Reconyx but they cost just over 1/3 of the top of the line. That sound pretty much ruins the videos for me so I mute them when I watch. I am giving the company owner my feedback.

The manufacturer should be able to use quieter components, directional mics pointed away from the camera components and sound insulation around the camera components.

For now you should be able to use very inexpensive acoustic studio sound foam inside the cam body to insulate the noisy camera components. Available on eBay or through downtown music stores.

They are back!!

if you click on the picture it should take you to my flickr page where there are more.

https://flic.kr/p/QGMiAn

Awesome!  So much bigger.  I want one…it would be the perfect companion for my Blue Great Dane :)

Mom is down to two kittens now, as per several pictures and a couple of ( low quality) videos.

Here is mom and one kitten, the other one is not in the video but a camera just ahead caught two kittens . The vocalization is pretty special here.

oh, the flash you see is the IR from another camera …. so this camera picks it up as a bright light since it uses the same type of lighting, but it is a no glow flash.

WOW!!! These are amazing. And so nice to see some of the kitties grown.. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much Ito! I don’t post the majority of my footage on BPL but notes like yours are very encouraging :)

What do you think became of the third kitten?  Any thoughts?

Very cool! Always fun to see what you capture with your cameras.

@Ben I think the third one was killed by another lion

@BJ thanks!

here is one of the kittens this morning, practicing on his/her own. Before they leave mom, in another six months or so, they need to develop some skills…..I went back home because I don’t want to be part of the practice.

I will link to videos tomorrow because I can’t upload much with my current speed:(

More great stuff!

Thanks BJC.

One of the fun parts of doing my presentations is that I get to update and add footage all the time. I now have these kittens since they were little fur balls to here and hopefully more in the future. I also have footage of the mom since she was just over a year old and had a huge gash at the top of her tail.

Keep the photos and videas coming please, Kat. They’re always appreciated.