A mountain lion on a mission

Winter has engulfed our world in the ten days. This is the little trail that connects our clearing to the forest around it.

After navigating that snow tunnel on my snowbike, K and I emerged into a more open area, where the deep blue sky and snow-laden pine trees painted a beautiful picture.

On the first couple of mornings after our last big snow, K was wired for action. I sensed that she could smell animals all around us. Of course, with my wimpy human nose, I couldn't smell them.

My wildlife cameras helped clue me into the action. Just before our last big storm, a hulking buck passed a camera in the mist of pre-storm clouds. I have no doubt that this big guy is the boss of all the bucks around here.

While it snowed, the mule deer were still on the move. This was during heavy snow and looks like a doe or youngster to me but it's hard to tell in the deluge of snow.

What a look this doe gave my camera!

Perhaps her "look" had something to do with the hulking buck following their group. Her calf is hurrying to stay ahead of him.

Meanwhile, not too far away, I noticed another reason for K's high alert level. A mountain lion had walked directly through the center of our trail system, passing over the rock where I frequently photograph K (see the 3rd photo in the last post), and heading down into the meadow where the Duo and I like to play.  His tracks were hulking and obvious.

During his foray into the center of our trail system, the mountain lion was undoubtedly stalking a small group of elk who have arrived to spend the winter in our meadows. I saw the tracks that the lion left as he hid behind trees and boulders, trying to approach the elk herd without being seen. Then, I saw his bounding tracks as he rushed toward a spot where there was a trample of elk tracks. At that point, I couldn't pick out the lion tracks anymore because they were in midst of such a trample.

I didn't find an elk carcass so I doubt that the lion had a successful hunt.

The lion tracks above told me with certainty that the lion was a male because the heel pad (the triangular back pad) was too big for a female or youngster. In addition, I found "scrapes", places under big pine trees where the lion had kicked back with his hind paws to get down to the dirt and then urinated on that spot. Males are much more likely to leave scrapes than females.

Today, I found out that I'd hit paydirt at one wildlife camera, getting photos of this lion during his nocturnal hunting.

At the point where the lion's photos were taken, he was in a remote and well-covered area. However, later in his foray, he marched directly down the open hillside behind K in the photo below. Yes, this was a bold and hungry lion on a mission! Hmm, I think that I now understand K's high intensity level.

Because K was so wired during our snowbike rides, she lost some of her privileges. Usually, when I have to stop for some reason, I allow her to mill around me as she wishes. In the past couple of days, I didn't trust her to stay out of trouble. In the photo below, she was doing a down-stay on top of the snow crust while I fixed a flat tire.

Winter has swept in with a fury this year. I must admit to some shock at the sudden change... riding a snowbike and struggling to break new trails for riding. I'm sure that it'll get easier as I get my "snowbike legs" - strong but slow legs. If it keeps snowing at this rate, we'll have a record year!