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Monday, October 22, 2012

Surprises

Often, I show you photos of my beautiful dogs at sunrise or sunset in my posts.
Or, the beauty of nature in the mountains. Some cottonwood trees still have their golden leaves.
But, recently, I've seen some odd and surprising stuff while out on the trails.... like this huge plume of smoke from Rocky Mountain National Park that I saw today.
And I saw this medi-vac helicopter in the middle of nowhere. It turned out that they were doing a wilderness rescue training session. They jokingly told me that, if I planned to crash my bike anytime soon, right then and there would have been a good time and place.
I also saw this "cat" next to a trail... which was foretelling my wildlife stories. I visited a trail camera at the end of last week. You can see my hand approaching it to check it.
Then, shortly after I checked the trail camera, a mountain lion came past the same spot. This big guy and I almost met! Many of you have asked if I'm scared to share the forest with the big animals who are capable of hurting me. I generally am not - because I know that they don't want to meet me any more than I want to meet them. But, I'll admit that the proximity of this mountain lion and me scared me a bit.
The mountain lion checked out the bear tree and then followed in my tracks. He did follow my path and was photographed by several trail cams (I captured lots of great photos that I'll share later). Fortunately, with distance, the lion fell further and further behind me (I know based on the times that I checked the cams compared to the times when he passed them). So, I don't think that he was actually following me. He was simply following the route that I've figured out that the lions like to use and have staked out with cameras.
Then, this morning, I found this absolutely delightful photo of a mother bobcat (facing the camera) and her kitten. It was one of about 60 photos of the two of them interacting. I've never captured such extensive footage of two animals interacting in the past. I'll share more of the photos in the coming days.
It's been a surprising, exciting, and beautiful few days in the mountains.

32 comments:

  1. Oh I can't wait to see more from your cams. That is such a sweet photo of the mother bobcat and her kitten. Your world is truly magnivicent.
    Bert

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  2. Kia ora KB,
    Man that is a huge plume of smoke! Was it a forest fire? I love your photos and the moments they bring alive. I never worried much either when I lived in the states about the big animals for the same reasons you mention. Plus they live there. Here in New Zealand I don't have that worry as we have no predator type animal. Instead it is the volatile nature of the land, river and mountains themselves which will claim the unwary. Hope all is well e hoa. Kia kaha.
    Aroha,
    Robb

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  3. I love the bobcats! And the mountain lion. Oh yeah, and Shyla. I guess I just love everything!

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  4. Ann....from..Outer Banks of NC....said .....Do you see it KB.....something about Shyla's sweet face in that picture reminds me of K....so heartwarming.....and such an inspiration .....And nature is so beautiful this time of the year...looking forward to seeing more pics of the mama bobcat and her baby........touches my heart in a way I cannot describe.....HUGS

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  5. What an exciting post, KB. I much prefer reading this and seeing your great photographs than listening to the debate. Great shots of the bobcats. The lion was close indeed and I wonder just how often they are just as close and we simply don't know it?

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  6. I can't wait to see the rest of the trail cam pictures, but I never get tired of dog photos or nature photos, either! lol

    BTW, you asked if we fed Kus beans before we went to the nursing home, and the answer is no, but my husband ate some and took a clothespin along for his own nose! :P

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  7. That would be enough to get my adrenalin pumping if I saw a bobcat on the trail! Wow! If Daisy ever saw one she would stop in her tracks and we would be turning around but I would want to stand there and watch for a little while! Beautiful pictures!

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  8. So much to see all in one day! First the chopper with the guys (that would have really taken me by surprise) then all the cat's (both real and machine). Busy, busy day.

    Where did you put the trail camera that you won in the contest?

    We so love seeing your pictures.

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle

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  9. So what was going on in Rocky Mountain National Park? MOM loves that place. We hiked through there once for 4 days, it was great. Love the cat photos (the furry ones). You know just where to put a camera.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  10. That is fangtastic! Such beautiful nature! Love the picture of Shyla!

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  11. Are you that close to ROMO? I was there working earlier this year - I wish I had known. I would have loved to have said hi!

    Sam

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  12. Hi KB, lovely shot of the bob cat and kitten.Super close up of the leaf, glorious colour. And another reader from NZ. with Robb's comment. Our blogs do spread far and wide all over this world. Fond greetings, Jean. email sent a few minutes ago.

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  13. I so enjoy and appreciate each picture that you share.
    Thank you so much!
    Erica :)

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  14. Aww...the one of the bobcat and her kittens is so adorable!! I admit I'd be terrified if I ran across one of those giant size critters in my yard, but I guess living there you must have gotten quite used to it!! We did have a run in with some coyotes...three of them...chasing after my daughter while she waited for the school bus one morning. That was years ago, but none of us will ever forget that day!! We have not seen them up close since that one time. I look forward to seeing your other pictures!! Thank you ever so much for sharing!!

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  15. We are so happy that you didn't come face to face with the mountain lion!
    Mama bobcat and her kitty are so sweet together!

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  16. Excellent post. I just love seeing those cats!!

    But be careful out there ....

    Marilyn

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  17. So beautiful but mom sure would be afraid of mountain lions
    Benny and Lily

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  18. All the wild animals are such fun to watch on the cameras, but I don't think I'd feel too comfortable meeting one face-to-face....especially before dinner time! (Their dinner time)

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  19. Lol - I love that the rescuers have a great sense of humor! You could have offered to be a "victim" so they could practice on you!

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  20. I can't wait to see the rest of the photos!

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  21. Fantastic mountain lion and bobcat photos! I haven't seen any mountain lion tracks or scat in quite a while. Plenty of bobcat sign, though. I always find it disconcerting when I encounter unexpected human activity (like that CAT excavator). I looked up the fire on InciWeb and it sounds like the firefighters are making progress. I hope that continues! Pats to R and Shyla. :-)

    Susan and Wrigs in AZ

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  22. Wow! That was one big weird looking yellow "cat" you saw on your trail! LOL! What a great capture of the bobcat and her kitten, but that cougar pic must have freaked you out. It was there at that same spot within the half hour of you. I've got chills! :)

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  23. KB, The smoke was so bad yesterday from the fire; I hope the rain and snow puts it out soon, they are saying it could be another month. I love the mama and baby bobcat-so very beautiful! Have a peaceful day my friend.
    Noreen

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  24. You are really living in a exciting part of the world...great trial shots...nice to see

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  25. Hi KB, boy oh boy, you live in an amazing part of the world. We love all your photos and can't wait to see more. Thanks so much for sharing them. No worries, and love, Carol (and Stella and Rory)

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  26. The lion looks big. Be careful out there!

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  27. Just love tuning in to see what your cameras have caught! But hey that was a little close with the Mt Lion! 20 min apart is a tad close/

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  28. Breathless and speechless! I must admit, though, I would love to encounter some of your wildlife models! The photographer in me sometimes overrules all sanity! I've come face to face with two moose now, and although the animals probably wondered what those knocking knee sounds were, I got the shots!!! :)

    Can't wait to see more!

    Hope the snow helps contain the RMNP fire...

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