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Tuesday, January 23, 2018

A mating pair of mountain lions relaxes together

I had this post almost ready to publish before my dad's heart attack. So, I wanted to share it now. Thank you so much for all of your well wishes for him. He's getting stronger each day.

Last week, one of my trail cameras recorded remarkable footage of a pair of adult mountain lions together. I've had trail cameras in mountain lion territory for almost a decade, and I've never seen this kind of footage before now.

They almost certainly are a mating pair because one behaved like a male, vigorously marking the spot where lions always mark near this camera. The second lion to arrive was less bulky and did not mark the ground at all.

Here was the arrival of the male, near noon, not too far from a trail occasionally used by humans. He sniffed the spot where all the male lions mark by scraping the dirt with their hind paws and then urinating. With all the marking activity this year, there's a big mound of pine needles in the marking spot.

Soon after arriving, he got down to the business of marking. I've read that females almost never mark this way.

 Then, he turned to look in the direction of his mate who was approaching.

She arrived...

... and she sniffed the marking spot.

They walked together toward the edge of the small clearing, and they looked in the direction of the human trail. I wonder if someone was passing by. You can see the pile of pine needles where the lions have been relentlessly marking in the foreground.

Then, the male walked out of view of the camera, and the female lay down for a 20 minute nap! The trail camera turned itself off as she lay down. Then, she didn't move for 20 minutes so the camera didn't trigger (it is motion-activated) and recorded nothing. When she awakened, she moved a little, and the trail cam resumed recording. She's lying on her back, and you can see her left front paw in the air in the next photo.

When she truly woke up, she looked around for the male and then she vocalized!!!!! I cannot believe that we have a recording of her calling. It's a high pitched chirping noise. It is not the noise that you'd expect such a large animal to make!

In the video, she makes three chirping calls, starting at time 2:51 in the video. Then, as she departed, she stretched, like a "downward dog" in yoga.

I hope that you enjoy this video as much as I did! It's available here or at Youtube.

If you enjoy my videos, I'd be very grateful if you'd click on the Youtube link for this video and hit the big red button that says "subscribe" just below the video.  Your subscription will help my channel keep perks that only highly subscribed channels get. Thank you to all of you who have already subscribed!

24 comments:

  1. She sounds like a bird chirping. We love peeking into the secret world of the mountain lions.
    We are so happy to hear that your dad is getting stronger!

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  2. Hari OM
    the whole video is special - but to have captured those chirrups - beyond special!!! YAM xx

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  3. they are just magnificent!!!! wow on the still shots and the video. that is certainly not a sound i would expect to hear from her. i smiled when she woke up and lifted that beautiful head.. viva la mountain lions.

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  4. This is amazing footage, and photos.

    I'm glad to hear your dad is getting stronger, and I hope his recovery is fast.

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  5. Oh my word.................this is just amazing video and we heard the chirps loud and clear.
    MOL mom says my meow is louder than that chirp.
    Hugs madi your bfff
    PS we hope your Dad is progressing

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  6. Your Dad, what good news, and I am hoping he improves each day. The lions, the video, and her chirping, what a treat to see this, and for you to share, very special. Maybe there will be some cubs next season.

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  7. Wow sooooo cool to see and thrilled you got to capture it. I too am amazed with her high pitched noise that she called with.

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  8. It is just amazing the footage you get from those trail cams!!

    Keep Calm & Bark On!

    Murphy & Stanley

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  9. We are so happy to hear that your dad is recovering well. Carpe diem, as you always remind us! And what an incredible video. We are so fortunate that you have a keen eye for wildlife hotspots! I never in a million years would have guessed those chirps to be from a mountain lion.

    Cheers,
    Chris from Boise

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  10. We love, love, love your videos. This one was so good - loved seeing the female wake up, chirp, and stretch just like our dogs do:) Prayers continuing for your father.

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  11. Amazing....definitely not the sound I'd expect from a mountain lion, but I suppose they have to be so careful, always looking for danger. Hope your dad just keeps improving.

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  12. How fun to see her waking from her nap. That's definitely not a sound you'd expect to hear out of a big cat!
    Glad to hear your Dad is still on the mend.
    Jan, Wag'n Woof Pets

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  13. Yippee! What a great show this was! Such beautiful mountain cats, I love to see the things that I would never see without you. I have been having lots of problems with my computer and am thinking about something new but in the mean time I am missing out on a lot. Like your Dad's heart problems, when did this happen? All best wishes and prayers to him from me! Jo

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  14. We're sure glad to hear positive news about your Dad. Those kitties sure are amazing and the world is their litter box!

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  15. What amazing footage. Thanks for sharing. We're glad to hear your dad is doing well.

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  16. Glad your Dad is improving. We subscribed!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  17. This is total amazing KB ! You have captured some amazing sights for us all to see,
    love
    tweedles

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  18. So glad to hear your Dad is doing better.

    What a great capture, she sounds like a kitten!!
    We also subscribed!!

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  19. love it... and to see what mighty paws they have and what wonderful muscles... wonderful

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  20. This is so wonderful to watch. How fortunate you are to witness such interesting animal behavior.
    I'm sorry to hear about your dad's heart attack and glad he's recovering. I wish him and your family all the best.

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  21. What amazing video and a truly impressive capture on the chirping sounds! Bravo on another nice exhibit proving why it's easy (and so worth it) to subscribe.😍

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  22. I have heard those chirps before and wondered what animal was making them. I thought they were maybe deer. Now I know! They are beautiful creatures.

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  23. Hi KB,
    If you listen carefully, I think the female did some chirps before she walked into the frame of the camera, in the beginning of the clip. The sounds are faint. And, here's hoping for a speedy recovery for your father. I'm glad to hear his is on the mend...I hope you are feeling better as well.

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