Photos and text copyright Romping and Rolling in the Rockies 2009-2017.

All photographs and text within this blog are copyrighted.

You may not copy or repost any photos or text without specific permission from the author of this blog. When in doubt, please ask.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Bold Lions out in Daylight

Mountain lions are cruising our forest frequently and boldly. Unlike usual, they've even been nearby during the day.

At a mountain lion marking site where big males have left deep scrapes in the ground, a young mountain lion stopped to sniff. First, she sniffed the ground.

Then, she sniffed the air. Soon, she was back to air scenting with her long lithe neck craned to get her nose as high as possible. The wind was wildly whooshing out of the west, and she clearly smelled something. In fact, it might have been Shyla and me. We were generally upwind of her at about that time.

Then, she bore a hole in the camera with a stare.
Two things make me think that she's young and a female. First, you can faintly see her kitten spots under her fur. They are more obvious in the video. As for being a female, I am basing that on the fact that she did not mark this spot. I think that a male would have.

It was so cool to watch her bound away in a kittenish way. I have *never* seen an adult mountain lion do anything but a lumbering walk.

Just two days later, a mature male mountain lion showed up at the old elk carcass from almost a month ago. Look at the size of his paws!

He meticulously sniffed every detail on the ground, and then he sniffed the carcass.
I'm betting that his cat has a kill nearby. He headed further downhill with a purposeful gait when he departed. Moreover, look at that full stomach hanging downward.

I think that he's a male because he left two marking scrapes out of view of the camera. Usually, males mark and females don't. Also, his bulk makes me think that he's a male.

I made a video of the visits of these two mountain lions to my camera sites which you can watch here or at Youtube. If for no other reason. watch it to see the young mountain lion bound away. It was amazing to see!


Happy Wildlife Monday!

24 comments:

  1. Hari Om
    the clarity of the pictures is incredible - I could 'stroke' those cats! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. They are so amazing! Maybe they were confused over the time change thing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leaping Lions is she beautiful!!! and he LOOKS male all the way, so big and beautiful. what paws and what a tail and what a face he has.... she was so pretty when she scented you.... they are just amazing in the daylight..can even see the fur details.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing. I love them. Did you see the post I tagged you in on facebook, about hunting big cats and bears in Colorado?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just saw your tag, Mary. Thank you. It's an awful plan that ignores the fact that mule deer populations are down likely due to habitat loss and not predation by lions and bears.

      Delete
  5. I cant tell if that was a smile on her face or a wicked little snear saying "I know your watching.".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was so expressive in that clip. I smiled my way through it!

      Delete
  6. Ohhhhh I know exactly what that beautiful mega cousin of mine is saying in #2 picture...
    You see how he has his nose up..he has caught a whiff of delight. We felines have a scent organ called Jacobson in the roof of our mouth. When we need to identify a scent we send it to Jacobson...
    GORGEOUS!!! Photos....
    Hugs madi and mom

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love, love,love seeing the mountain lions in action!!! That shot of the female with her neck extended in the air reminded us of Timber's sniffing shot from last week:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Smiling at you,sniffing in the air, then a few leaps and away. This would be one of the most amazing lion videos you have posted. Love every second!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the video... it is as if they are in one room with me ;O) (note to myself have always dog treats in your pocket... just in case LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG! You are such an expert on getting your trail cams placed! Amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We loved seeing the young female smiling at the camera☺

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those are some pretty awesome shots!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Loved the young female being so expressive!!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

    ReplyDelete
  14. Totally amazing KB! These are treasures!
    love
    tweedles

    ReplyDelete
  15. OMD, the female kitteh ☺ just adorables! Yes, she is still bouncy for a mature ML, I thinks. (though, i am nine and I am still bouncy, so....) The male's paws are ENORMOUS!! wows! Very impressive ML's!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

    ReplyDelete
  16. Loved watching her hop away and taste the air.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I loved watching her air scenting too. You really don't have any snow there! We could certainly spare some of ours. :)
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

    ReplyDelete
  18. Amazing footage! I see on one of the videos the time was after 4PM so I think it’s not unusual for a lion to be awake and exploring. That wind! We’ve had so much wind lately! (My nemisis when exercising in the forest.) Take care out there.

    ReplyDelete

If you are a Blogger registered user, you can skip the step asking you to verify that you are not a spammer. For posts older than 5 days, I have comment moderation turned on.

Thanks for your comments!!!!!