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Monday, January 9, 2017

A Curious Mountain Lion

I know a clearing in the woods that mountain lions visit frequently. It's on a saddle of a ridge so it's a natural spot for them to cross the ridge. A huge old Ponderosa Pine tree spreads its limbs on that saddle, and mountain lions like to mark their territory by scraping (with their hind paws) in the pine needles under it.

I know all of this because I have had trail cameras in that spot for years. Last year, I started getting worried because my rate of mountain lion sightings had gone way down. I'd gotten no mountain lion photos at that site in about a year. I worried that the lion population had plummeted for some reason.

This was a photo of a mountain lion in that clearing.

Then, one day as I rode my mountain bike through the woods, a cylindrical object on the forest floor caught my eye. I stopped, thinking that it was trash that I should pick up. After I examined it, I saw that it was an electronic device made by a wildlife company. I also saw tooth marks in the neoprene sleeve covering it.

I brought it home and Googled it. To my surprise, it was a light-sensitive device that made animal calling noises when it was dark outside. My reading told me that it was frequently used by photographers to entice wildlife to visit their cameras.

I thought, "What the heck? I've scarcely gotten any mountain lion photos in the past year. It's worth trying it to see what happens.". I put it on that ridge saddle, under the Ponderosa Pine. At first, not much happened except that the darn thing burned through batteries at a surprising rate.

Then, I found a series of videos on one of the trail cams on that saddle. It was a mountain lion who was intrigued by the device.

I thought that it was cool to get to see so much behavior by the mountain lion as he checked out the device and eventually took it away! The funny part, to me, is that theft by a mountain lion is probably why the device was lying on the forest floor to start with (remember that I said it had teeth marks on it?). Now, the device is floating around in the forest again...

Enjoy the video!


25 comments:

  1. this is amazing and sorry to say I am laughing. priceless is what the video is

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  2. A big cat and his toy! What an amazing video of an amazing animal.

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  3. That's so funny. I am glad that the big cats are still around though, that's all good news.

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  4. That is really funny and very cool
    Lily & Edward

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  5. Interesting, we weren't aware of such a thing before!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  6. Haha wow that's amazing. Breathtaking when he lies down beside it, what a beautiful animal.

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  7. So the lions are still there, maybe all going to where this device was before. His big paws are so gentle with it, he wants to play. Amazing video.

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  8. Wow, that's SOME kind of catnip! 😇 Greetings from another Coloradoan. Found your sight through Wag N'Woof Pet. Looking forward to 'digging' around here some more.

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  9. Wow it's amazing to me how relaxed you about living around so many large wild animals.

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  10. I love this - And it really shows how much like their domestic counterparts they are! It also reminds me of the quote "God made the cat to give humankind the pleasure of caressing the tiger." --Or the Mountain Lion! :-)

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  11. Hey, big kitty is embracing the inner kitten!

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  12. We love how the big cat lay down and posed so nicely for us:) Maybe he is taking that device somewhere where he can see what animals it might attract:) The way he bats the device around makes me think of the dogs with a toy that has a squeaker inside.

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  13. He/she is beautiful. Love seeing him bat the noise maker around.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  14. He found a free toy! How entertaining he is!

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  15. That was such a good video. Fantastic that the Lions are still around.

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  16. I never heard of attracting animals to a camera this way! I know hunters use those to shoot coyotes, etc. I may have to look into one of those! Our only "big" cats are bobcats, but pretty scarce in front of my cameras, maybe I'll have better luck with one of these! Great video, massive cat!

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  17. Not having any luck researching this device, can you give away the brand and name of the device?

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    1. Wendy - I'd love to help. Can you send me your email address? kynabear5 at gmail. Thanks!

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  18. WOW that kitty was way cool. I told momma I wanted a squeaky toy like that.
    Blessings,
    Buddy

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  19. I enjoyed watching him play with the device. Such a big kitty-kitty!!

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  20. He is a gorgeous cat! It's funny to see how much he acts like a house cat.

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  21. That is cool. I hope that device cost the person who put it there a lot of money. Nature triumphing over technology again.

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  22. How very fun!!! A fun experiment and experience!
    love
    tweedles

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  23. Well, that device certainly got the attention of one of the local "lions"...Moxie was sound asleep but went into Full Alert Mode when I watched your video!

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