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Sunday, October 12, 2014

Wildlife Sunday

Yesterday, a few of you asked why there are so many elk hooves in our forest. The reason is that mountain lion prey on elk (and deer). They eat all the meat and organs, and they leave behind fur, bones, and hooves.

This is from a trail camera near where Shyla finds elk hooves. This lion just had a huge meal.
This photo is from the same camera. This is a hulking bull elk but mountain lions can kill elk that are this large by sneaking up on them and pouncing.
You might remember the huge antler that Shyla found in June. It might have been from this bull elk. He sheds his antlers every year and grows a new and bigger set.

The other day, I showed a photo of a bobcat kitten from a trail camera. That camera recently had a prolonged visit by a bobcat kitten and his mother. The kitten peeked at the camera from behind a boulder that I've seen cat scrapes next to in the past. This is the same spot where a mountain lion kitten paused recently.
The kitten hugged the boulder!
 And rubbed his face on it.
 Then, mom showed up, and the kitten bounded away in the background of the photo.
 Mom didn't stay for too long but she paused at the boulder.
Then she bounded off with a kitten. I'm not sure if it was a second kitten or the same one as we saw earlier. The reason why I'm confused is that I thought that the first kitten had already disappeared to the left of the camera's view a little bit earlier. Most bobcat mothers give birth multiple kittens in a litter, although, around here, they usually have only one remaining by this time of year.
Good luck mother bobcat and kitten(s)! I hope we see you again before winter snows slow us all down!

20 comments:

  1. Absolutely fascinating!! Thanks for sharing these!

    Your pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  2. Such amazing, amazing critters! Howdy pretty Shyla!

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  3. Hi Y'all!

    Oh I love seeing these photos. My Human is considering putting some cams along some of the farm trails to see what, besides turkeys and deer, lurk along them. The bee keeper has seen bear and panther. My Human has seen bobcat and a neighbor has seen wolf hybrids. They killed so many of his sheep that he sold them all.

    Y'all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  4. So, a high mortality rate in baby bobcats....

    Love that one cuddling the boulder.

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  5. That sure is a very big antler. The antlers I let my dogs have look puny next to that one:)

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  6. How fascinating to see the wildlife like that. I love seeing the progress you are making with Shyla.
    hugs
    Mr Bailey & Hazel

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  7. I love seeing the wildlife in your area. And I especially love the little Bobcat.

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  8. The bob cats are so beautiful. I saw a fox run across the road the other day and, living in the city, it was the first time I've seen a fox in real life. I did grow up in small towns but still it was the first one. I absolutely love when you share your trail camera pics!

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  9. We love seeing these photos-they're all fabulous. But love that little "kitty" hugging the boulder. So the mom cat typically loose one or more of their litter each year to prey?

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  10. The wildlife is so beautiful KB!
    Amazing photos that you always capture, and amazing storys too
    love
    tweedles

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  11. That kitten was so cute! Wish him/her a safe winter!

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  12. The kitties are so beautiful! I hope you are able to get more pictures before snow falls.

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle & Muffin

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  13. OMD, that reminds me, did you see on the news of that mountain lion on top of that car? It was right here in our city!!! Nows, it was all the way on the other side of town, butts it kinda freaked Ma out, cause we are kinda close to the foothills here. And although we do get coyotes and stuffs, we have never seen mountain lions THAT big here in the burbs! It's the drought ~ it's causing all the wildlife to enter the cities in seek of water and food. Good things I'm an indoor doggie! Yikes!
    Anyhu, I LOVES seein' those bobcats!! OMD, they are sooo cute!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  14. The kitten is just adorable!
    If you need any help with that antler, Shyla, we're available!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  15. Cute cute cats. And the belly on the cougar, he did eat tons.

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  16. Love that last one as we see the blur of them running off. Well, I really love all of them, but the motion is pretty cool.

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  17. Those kitten pictures are ridiculously adorable!!!

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