Elk and Mountain Lions

Our normal "changing of the guard" in wildlife is underway. In the fall, the elk herd arrives, and eats the dry grass from the meadows around us. The elk herd is obvious. What is less obvious is the predators that lurk in the forests around the herd.

For the past couple of years, the herd has been arriving in small fragments much earlier than in past years. When they arrive, they're still in the tail end of the rutting season. The bulls act defensive about "their" cows and bugle occasionally.

On the day that I took these photos, about a week ago, the entire herd was together for the first time. We estimated about 90 elk were hanging out in one 100 acre meadow.

The biggest bull still seemed quite interested in the tail-ends of the cows.

The younger bulls were sneaking around the edges of the herd, avoiding the big guy.

The younger bulls sparred with each other, perhaps preparing for a future year when they could be the Kings. In the next photo, two sets of bulls are sparring - the very young ones in the foreground and two slightly bigger ones in the background.

It was clearly a practice sparring session. When one stumbled, the other waited for him to right himself.

With the arrival of the elk, more mountain lions prowl in our area. These photos were taken on the same day as the elk photos, but they were deep in the forest where the snow doesn't melt quickly. A mother mountain lion (far right) and her almost full-grown kitten (left) passed my trail camera.

This photo gives you a vision of how big the kitten is. I bet that he'll be striking out on his own before too long. Notice that mom is lingering, waiting for him.

Then, the kitten started acting goofy, lying on the ground and rubbing his ears. In the next photo, you can see that he has an ear tag in his right ear for an ongoing study in our area. However, I believe that this is the same pair as I posted about back in July, when this kitten had a transmitter and antenna attached to his left ear. Back then, he was rubbing his left ear obsessively, apparently trying to get rid of the transmitter.

It appears to me that he succeeded. There is no green transmitter and no antenna that I can see. Moreover, the tip of his left ear looks droopier than mountain lion ears usually look.

His rubbing still appeared to be focused on his left ear, either out of habit or because he hurt the ear when he ripped out the transmitter.

He kept at it for what seemed like a long time. Mom didn't reappear on camera.

He looked up a few times, letting me confirm that there was no transmitter in his left ear. I also liked seeing his handsome face.

I also thought that his left ear looked a little odd... but it's hard to be sure.

Finally, he shook as he stood up.

And, he was on his way, following his mother. This all took place about a half mile from where I captured photos of the pair in July.

In this session, the kitten had spent about 4 minutes fussing with his ear. Although I know that valuable information is being gained from the study, I have to wonder how much time and energy the kitten has spent rubbing his ear. So, from the point of view of the impact on each individual lion, I have some worries about the study.

I hope that you're having a fabulous Saturday!