First, for my new readers, do not worry - R gets as much romping in the mountains as Shyla. R is the Runner's constant companion, and they run together on the mountain trails every single day. That's why I am so thrilled when I find a rare opportunity to get a photo of R in the mountains!
Part of why the Runner and I have always had at least two dogs is that both each of us loves to have a canine companion on our daily mountain outings. When we have only one dog, we literally wear out that poor dog with too much exercise. So, by having at least two, a single dog doesn't have to run too many miles per day!
On the wildlife front, today I found a very fun series of rapidfire trail camera photos. It was a pair of mountain lions ("cougars"), a mother and a kitten, who had an extensive interaction by a bear marking tree.
I made it into a video (below) but just in case you can't easily watch videos due to slow internet (my usual problem), I've included some highlight photos.
First, the mother arrived, and she stood still, perhaps calling for her kitten.
More than 2 minutes later, the kitten arrived. It looked like mom gave the kitten a "talking to" for wandering off.
Her anger quickly disappeared, and she patrolled as her kitten acted like a goofy youngster.
Here is the kitten, rolling around on the ground like a goofball.
He licked his nose just before departing, following mom.
It's only the second time, in all these years, that I've captured photos of a mother mountain lion and her offspring together. I was thrilled beyond words to find these photos on my camera!
Obviously, both of the mother and kitten have been marked for the study going on in our area. Mom has a GPS/radio collar on plus ear tags. The kitten has ear tags, one of which has a transmitter attached to it with a 6-8" long antenna. I was pretty shocked to see that. I understand that they can't put a collar on a kitten because he's growing too fast but a transmitter on his ear with a long antenna must be unwieldy for him.
You can see the ear transmitter if you look at his left ear closely in the photo below. I wondered if some of his antics were actually attempts to get the transmitter off his ear.
I've made a video from all of the rapidfire stills that you can view at
Youtube or here.
It's always a special day for me when I can see our wild animals going about their daily lives using my trail cameras. I loved seeing this kitten!
very, very cool!!! you'd think with today's technology, the hardware would be more low profile!
ReplyDeletexoxo
It does look like he's trying to dislodge the antenna. Fantastic photos! We can understand your excitement.
ReplyDeleteXXXOOO Daisy, Bella & roxy
How amazing to be able to capture these moments in their lives. Something most of us never see--thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I'm with kks; surely there must be a better way than the onerous antenna. Loved the great photo of R. Such a beautiful dog.
ReplyDeleteWe have been among the missing in blogland and have missed everyone.glad to see you are still sharing pics from your trail cameras. Awesome.one of our neighbors by our cabin has them too and has gotten pics of bobcats, cougars, bears and cubs, moose, elk,turkeys etc. we have thought of putting some motion sensor cameras around the cabin to see what happens when we are not there.
ReplyDeleteWags Ernie Chica,Lucas,and Rosie
I agree with the others -- it seems blazingly obvious that the poor cub is being driven to distraction by that hideous antenna. What possible reason can researchers have for doing this to an animal? Seriously, I'd love to know. What never-before-known, species-saving information can they glean that would justify the torment suffered by this young mountain lion?
ReplyDeleteIronically, I just saw this article on "imperceptible" electronics. In 2013, for Pete's sake, why can't we study wildlife without burdening animals with large, heavy, clearly uncomfortable equipment?
Apologies for ranting. I wish the researchers could see your video -- it might change some minds.
Wonderful shots. I wish they did not have to wear the collar or ear tags. Equally wonderful is that shot of R.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Goose
Wonderful shots. I wish they did not have to wear the collar or ear tags. Equally wonderful is that shot of R.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Goose
R looks like a chocolate lab with the sun hitting him in that first picture. What an amazing series with the cougars. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCindy
Great photos. Getting that close to wild animals would be amazing. The closest my dogs get to other animals is walking (on leash) through fields of sheep, cows and chickens, so I'd love to do what you do!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you for another wonderful day in your world! These videos are amazing. Beautiful big cats!
ReplyDeletelove
tweedle
Now that is a perfect ending to our day.......
ReplyDeleteI always love your mountain lion moments! You definitely got some great captures of them. I wonder, will they take the transmitter off the kitten's ear when it gets big enough to wear a collar?
ReplyDeleteWe could send Morgan out if you'd like a dog to wear out!
this is stunning, what a great place. Love R in sunshine too. Greetings from Jean
ReplyDeleteAmazing Pictures of the lion. I dont Think the kitten have problems with the antenna.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cats! You would think with today's micro-technology, that antenna could at least be shorter. It does look annoying!
ReplyDeleteLove the lion shots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the handsome photo of Prince R, very nice!
ReplyDeleteYou know how I feel about that hardware they put on wild animals, I doubt the technicians who do it have any idea of the problems it causes the animals. Like, does it make a small noise that would tip off prey? Throw the wearer off balance? Ah, who knows, its plain the kitten doesn't like it.
Cheers and hugs,
Jo, Stella and Zkhat
As a wildlife researcher and biologist I'll chime in here...I wish that technology has advanced enough that we didn't have to put equipment them on in order to find information about them. Size of transmitters is dictated by the batteries needed to power them, and long antennas are needed to be able to hear the signal further than a couple of hundred yards. Technology has not come far enough to put teeny tiny transmitters on large, wide-ranging, long-lived animals that live in dense woods. And as for the ear tag transmitter, some do get them off, but most don't seem to have trouble wearing them. They only last for about 6 months or so, which in the life of a big cat isn't much time at all. Believe it or not, we really do care about the animals we study, even as individuals, otherwise we wouldn't be studying them.
ReplyDeleteFirst your reason for having two dogs made me chuckle!
ReplyDeleteSecond, thank you so much for sharing the cougars. They are my favourite animal, so it is so great to see them. I am torn about how I feel to see them tagged as such, but I guess if that helps protect them, it is a good thing.
What a wonderful life your dogs have! I love seeing your wildlife photos as well, but nothing compares to those happy pup faces.
ReplyDeleteI get that they want to track the lions, but that poor kitten shouldn't have to deal with that big thing. Poor kitty. Great shots though!!
ReplyDeleteWhen you said kitten, I thought you meant something...smaller, LOL!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos, KB! But, all that hardware on the kitten's ears is disgusting! Truly. The things humans do to other animals in the name of research often cannot be justified in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteSusan and Wrigs
Doing a bit of catching up, as per usual... it's really interesting to hear about your lifestyle in the Rockies, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAlso thanks for sharing the mountain lion 'video' - great to see a glimpse of their lives too.
Melon