Feline and Nature Friday - A Lion in the Midst of the Wildlife

It's just an average Ponderosa Pine tree in the forest. It has a deep bed of dead pine needles below it and sweeping low branches reaching out from a rotund trunk.

Although its appearance is normal, it is located in an auspicious spot at the top of a deep gully that channels cold air from a hillside down to a canyon. Mountain lions love spots like this one.

Indeed, visits by mountain lions outnumbered all other species combined this winter by a ratio of about 10 to 1. They adore this marking spot.

Here was one arriving on March 10, almost hip checking my trail cam.

Prior to the lion's visit, a mule deer buck had innocently wandered through, thoroughly sniffing the lion scrape and scent.

And, just after the lions visit, a hulking bull elk had ambled through, nose glued to the ground as he sniffed.

Here is a video of the animals coming through that spot, including rare daytime footage of the mountain lion on March 10.