Sunset and a Mountain Lion

The Labraduo and I have been out around sunset most evenings recently. The other evening, the sunset lit up the forest with a gorgeous golden glow. However, neither dog would look at me for photos!

 Their vigilance was impressive, as they constantly scanned the forest.

After the sun dipped below the snowy Rocky Mountains, the clouds lit up vividly. First, the thin cloud cover caught on fire. The John Denver song with the line "I've seen it raining fire in the sky" was floating through my head as I watched it.

Then, the clouds higher in the sky turned orange.

As we departed the lookout point to walk home before total darkness descended, the view was magnificent.

The entire time that I watched the sky, I had two vigilant guard dogs watching my back. It turned out that they had very good reason to be wary. About a half mile away, a mountain lion was simultaneously patrolling. You can see the sun setting directly above his/her shoulders, filtered through the forest.

I am working on a video of the very frequent mountain lion photos my trail cameras have captured over the past month or so. I'm beginning to wonder if this cat might be a female with kittens stashed someplace nearby. She follows almost the same paths every time she passes one of my cameras, making me think that I am repeatedly getting photos of the same feline. Mountain lions usually cover huge home ranges, so it would be rare to get photos of one lion more often than monthly. If one lion is staying in a relatively small area for a long time, it makes me think that there's a reason, like immobile kittens.

Time will tell. I have to admit that the thought of getting photos of very young mountain lion kittens makes my spirits soar.

Last summer, I posted photos of the youngest kitten with his mom that my cameras have captured so far. After talking with the researchers who put the radio transmitters on these cats, I learned that this kitten was a male who was almost a year old. He'd been reared a fair distance away and was traveling with his mom, learning to hunt and survive. He has doubtless split from his mom by now and is finding his own way in the world.

I am so grateful to have these creatures in our forest. The vast majority of mountain lions avoid us humans like the plague and especially humans who have dogs with them. So, I try not to worry about them and simply enjoy the fact that they are here.