Mountain lion, dogs, elk, and coyotes

I still want to tell you a bit more about our desert trip because we made two more fascinating and beautiful stops that I haven't written about yet. However, K and I had an exciting bike ride today so I'll save the desert story for tomorrow.

As K and I started our ride, I could tell that an uncommon animal had been on our path. She was on high alert, darting from side-to-side and constantly scanning our surroundings. She relaxed briefly atop Hug Hill under rare blue skies.

Then, as we skirted an area where I have a wildlife camera, her nose hit the ground and she looked like a hound on the trail of a fox. I called her back and decided that, although I tend to try to keep the dogs away from my wildlife cameras to avoid permeating the areas with their scent, I was going to break my rule and check the wildlife camera that we were close to.

As I excitedly peered at my viewfinder, I discovered that the majestic mountain lion had returned to his scent post last night to leave a huge pair of furrows in the ground where he'd marked his territory by scraping backward with each hind paw.

I believe that this is the same lion as visited on 4/3 and 4/19/11. I made a "flipbook video" of his visit. It shows that he has a very full belly. He appeared to be walking past the scent post when the scents of other animals caught his nose. Then, he changed direction to leave his own territorial statement. You can view my flipbook video below or at my youtube channel.

Since his last visit to this scent post, a number of other animals have visited the scent post. First, a couple of dogs wandered through and peed on the previous scrape left by this lion.

The next one is not R - it's a different black dog.

Then, a few days later, a large faction of our elk herd paraded through. I counted about 50 rumps that passed the camera over the course of several minutes. Some of these prey animals were very interested in the scents left by their predators.

More recently, a trio from the local coyote pack came through. The first animal focused on my camera.

Then, they got down to the business of marking the spot as their own. Just like the last time that the coyotes visited this spot, each individual peed on the mountain lion scrape.

I have to say that when I compare the bulky, well-fed, and muscular mountain lion to those coyotes, I think that the feline rules this scent post!

I can feel the power of the mountain lion in that special spot in the forest. His spirit infuses the forest with mystery and energy.

He also adds an element of fear. The presence of lions is one of the main reasons why I am so vigilant about keeping the dogs nearby and under control!