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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Serendipity - A Mountain Lion and the Stars

With my new computer, I've started using some new software for organizing my photos. I can ask it to "filter" the photos in lots of different ways. It's fun to see what my trail cameras were capturing while I was taking other photos with my regular camera. One night last month, a big male mountain lion came through our neck of the woods while we were far away on a camping trip.

He walked toward one of my motion-activated cams.
At first, he seemed as if he'd just walk briskly past it. Then, he turned on a dime and started sniffing the bone that a dog deposited there six months ago.
This bone has obsessed the local bobcats but this was the first mountain lion who was mesmerized by it.
I couldn't see what he was doing as his nose was toward the bone. Then, he stood up and shook.
He seemed to contemplate his next move before he started walking again. Look at that full belly!
Just a few minutes later, he arrived at another spot that mountain lions love to mark. Over the years, I've gotten footage of many lions scraping the ground and urinating here.
He didn't stay long but he left his own big "scrape" just outside the view of the camera. He's a strong specimen!
Meanwhile, we were camped high in the Rocky Mountains. At the same time as that mountain lion was making his rounds, I had my regular camera on a tripod, and it was taking many exposures of the stars. I layered them together so that we could see the stars' paths.

The stars spun around the North Star. You can see the bright lights of a town below us.
The mountain lion didn't see the town lights but he saw the same stars as we did!

23 comments:

  1. He's a big guy. Wouldn't want to meet him face to face!

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  2. What a fat belly that guy has! and those stars...Van Gogh would be impressed!

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  3. That's a huge cat! I absolutely love seeing your wildlife photos. Oh, and the sky photos? Breathtaking.

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  4. He is a huge fellow. Wonder what's in his belly.

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  5. Oh wow! That's one BIG kitty!!! :D I love your star photos!! They are so neat!

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  6. He IS a big kitty:) And the stars - just amazing!

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  7. That is one big kitty! And that star photo is amazing.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  8. Wow..he is a big cat., looks like he eats well. Love the picture of the stars. Always look forward to your pictures and posts. Thank you for sharing
    Barb and the furkids

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  9. Love your star photos.
    Living in the city we don't get to see them like out in the wilderness.
    Ha we don't get to see your wild animals either. Thanks for sharing
    all the beauty.
    That is one big kat.

    xo Cinnamon

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  10. Quite a large mountain lion, my goodness. Your pictures show how strong and powerful these cats are.
    Gorgeous image of the stars!!

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  11. Great Mountain Lion shots...and I have just loved all of your star trail shots!!

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  12. One big boy, those trail cam photos are great, and you share them with us all, Starry,Starry Night.. do you use a Canon intervalometer, or another brand? Down here there are a few models, all different brands, Canon is $299, JVC is $55,maybe you would be able to send some helpful advice please. Lovely with the star trails to see town lights in the far distance too, one super photo. Cheers,Jean.

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  13. Wow - he is one big kitty!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  14. I just love all your mountain lion shots.

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  15. Awesome. Not sure if we want to know who is in the belly
    Lily & Edward

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  16. Hopefully he'll come back around to visit again!

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  17. To answer Jean's question, my intervalometer is a Satechi. It was much less expensive than a Canon or other high profile brands. It has worked well for a couple of years. For the star trail photos, I use the intervalometer to program the exposure time, the break between exposures, and how many exposures to take.

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Thanks for your comments!!!!!