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Saturday, June 16, 2018

Caturday: Bobcat and mountain lion rolling in bear scent

Wild cats seem enamored with bear scent. In fact, one of my very first video clips from a trail camera years ago was of a bear marking a tree and then a bobcat rolling at the base of the tree.

A similar scenario played out recently except that a mountain lion was involved too.

First, a female bear walked past a marking tree. She sniffed but didn't mark which is typical.

The sow's mate trailed her by about 15 seconds. Her mate gave the tree a thorough marking. As male bears rub their backs on trees, they urinate at the same time, leaving strong scent on the ground below the tree. Also, the male bear also marks the ground with his paw pads, which you can see when he walks away from the tree in an odd manner called a "cowboy walk".

Consequently, after a bear passes a tree, the ground near the tree is covered in bear scent. For some reason, wild cats seem to love that scent. Bobcats roll in it. When people see an image like this, they think that I might have put a scent on the ground to cause the cats to act crazy. I didn't - it's all the bear scent!

Lions sniff it and sometimes roll in it. In this case, he sniffed.

At a nearby marking tree, a similar situation played out. A male bear marked the tree doing an intense dance!

Then, a mountain lion rolled in the scent that the bear left on the ground.

Thus, a bear marking tree becomes an important spot for all sorts of carnivores to mark with their own scent or to try to cover themselves in bear scent. This is a big part of why I like to point my cameras at bear marking trees. I get footage of all sorts of carnivores!

This video shows you the antics of bears, a bobcat, and a mountain lion by a bear marking tree. It's so cool to see how these elusive wild animals behave when we humans are not around!

18 comments:

  1. That’s so interesting. Maybe the cats want to smell like a big bear.

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    1. I think it's bizarre! Why would our top predator (mountain lion) want to smell like something else? I don't understand it!

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    2. maybe to cover his/her own scent?

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    3. That could be... I guess it might make some prey less wary of bobcats and lions?

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  2. I never get tired of seeing those great big beautiful papa bears stand up on their hind legs. they are just stunning to see in the stand up position, especially with the sun making the furs shine... the cats are so majestic .. maybe the cats are trying to cover up the bear scent, like they are saying so take that here is a little cat scent to cover yours scent mister.

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  3. maybe they are covering themselves in bear scent to keep the bears from know they are around, like scent cammoflauge….

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    1. I bet that it is something like that. Or, perhaps smelling like a bear will make them less obvious to their prey? Just an idea.

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  4. It is so much fun to take peeks into their secret worlds. Thank you, KB!

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  5. Amazing to see this, and to know that they all walk past that place, leave a scent, or roll in it. I wish we could find out what they are really thinking. Thanks so much for sharing this part of your life.

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  6. OMCs....what a great title!! The wild cat does love the scent of that bear. I did not know any of this that you shared. We two senior ladies really love learning stuff especially about such amazing creatures. I, Madi(son) D Cat will rub my scent all over mom's legs especially if she has been out and about.
    Hugs madi and mom

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  7. PeeMail sure is a popular way of communicating!

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  8. They are all so beautiful! I love these glimpses into your incredible mountains!
    KZK

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  9. Maybe the lion wants to smell like the bear. Maybe he gets more girls that way. Great photos

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  10. This is so awesome! Had to tell you, I watched this (again) while the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman was playing. The song "This is the Greatest Show" was perfect! :)

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  11. How very interesting, who knew the cats would like the bear scent
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  12. Crikey ..... if I were that lion bloke I'd steer well clear of those bear blokes. They look mighty dangerous to me ..... and ... BIG!!!!!!

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  13. Wow - the size of the paws of that last lion!

    How do you identify a marking tree?

    Cheers,
    Chris from Boise

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