A gorgeous mountain lion sniffs a scent post

A mountain lion visited an area where there is a long line of scrapes left by previous mountain lions. It's an astounding place, with about 20 yards of innumerable scrapes left by generations of lions.

It is not surprising that lions are obsessed with the scents in this area. In these photos, he was standing over old scrapes - but he was sniffing the air and a branch hanging down barely into the frame.

Then, he walked forward and left his own scrape just barely out of view of the camera. That's the problem with an area visited so often by lions - you can't be sure exactly where they will choose to scrape.

In any case, I was thrilled to get such a good look at this extremely muscular and healthy lion. I don't know if he's our new top tom cat (remember that our tom cat was killed by a home owner last winter)  - because it appears to me as if the lines between territories may be being re-written. This guy may be the new top cat for the part of the territory to our west, and the part to our east is still being squabbled over. Time will tell...

This video is quite short but let's you see what a beautiful specimen this cat is!