A mountain lion eats an elk

We live in glorious and beautiful mountains that we share with a variety of wildlife. Some are big predators who can hurt our dogs so we work hard at training them so that we can keep them as safe as possible.

More than a month ago, a mountain lion killed a young bull elk in our forest. When I first saw the carcass, I thought that the lion was finished with it and had moved on. The carcass was gutted. Meat only remained on the neck, head, and legs. On the first night and following morning, coyotes feasted on it, seemingly proving me right that the mountain lion had moved onto more hunting.

It turned out that I was very wrong. A mountain lion arrived on the scene soon thereafter. I don't know whether it was the same lion as originally killed the elk.

My trail camera emits a soft red glow when taking photos, and the lion noticed it right away. These two photos are in rapid succession.

After checking out the camera, the mountain lion started working on the area of the carcass with the most meat remaining - the head and neck.

He'd occasionally stop and look at the camera.

I think that after the photo above, he decided to move the carcass away from the crazy glowing camera. First, he pulled backward.

Then he gazed into the distance, perhaps planning his route.

More pulling...

A hard look at the camera again...

Look at that strong body he has...

Finally, he got serious, and he picked up the head.

...only to drop it again, and then try to dislodge the carcass from its spot with his front limb. I bet the carcass was frozen to the ground.

More pulling...

And then he passed directly in front of the camera, dragging the carcass. This is the lion's fur.

Almost an hour later, the mountain lion returned to where the carcass had been before he moved it and licked his chops for the camera.

Then, a long time later, a bobcat investigated the spot where the carcass had been. Doesn't he look tiny compared to that mountain lion?

That whole scene explains why our Duo doesn't wander around by themselves and why we expend energy training them. Of course, nothing can totally protect them from ferocious predators but we try to strike a balance between giving them a fun life and keeping them safe.

Fortunately, I wrote this post a while ago... because, with my new medicines and lots of rest, I've managed to evade the evil migraine monster for two days (so I'm taking it easy again today, trying to keep it at bay). Thanks for all of your support!

On Alert

Shyla and I finally made it out into the hills in time for sunrise after a week of me being too tired to get up early (sunrise hikes were on my "list"!). It is incredible how fast the time and the position of the sunrise are changing.

I know that these sunrises are precious. Pretty soon, the sun will rise so much further to the north that the rays won't hit our neck of the woods until well after the actual sunrise. And, you all know how much I love seeing my sweet Shyla in the sunrise light!

Around sunrise this morning, I felt like I was on high alert. I don't know if I was picking up worried signals from Shyla (her giving me looks like the one below) or if my mind was fabricating it.

So, we stayed close together, playing games in the warm sunlight.

I was putting her through her paces, having her do various tricks. She was ad libbing, doing slightly different things than exactly what I'd trained her to do. In fact, her responses to my verbal commands started making me laugh. I asked her to wave with her left paw, which she did successfully a few times. But then, the next time I asked her to wave with her left paw, she barked very loudly.

And then she looked at me with a crazy expression that seemed to say "take that"!.

She was definitely in the mood to bark while training (it was only the second time in her life that's been true - this morning, she was barking regardless of what verbal cue I gave her). So I took the opportunity to teach her the word "Bark!". She seemed to be getting it, and we both had fun!

The rest of our hike was uneventful so perhaps the odd wariness that I felt about the forest was not based on anything real. It might have been triggered by the ongoing attacks on dogs by mountain lions. The numbers and the heartbreak are piling up.

I continue to see the normal pattern of behavior of the wildlife in our neck of the woods. The mountain lions who I've captured on camera have been doing normal "mountain lion activities" like eating elk and acting outraged that a camera was recording their feast.

In my opinion, the best outcome of the current crisis would be if dogs were always supervised when they're outdoors. It seems as if all the killings have been immediately adjacent to houses, when dogs are outside by themselves, either contained in a yard, on a deck, or totally free. It's a long shot but... perhaps if there weren't unsupervised dogs outdoors, the rogue lion wouldn't have easy prey and might naturally return to deer and elk as prey. I have a sliver of hope that this might happen because it seems that everyone is talking about the dogs who have been lost to mountain lions recently.

Regardless, I feel a very heavy heart knowing that fellow mountain-dwellers are mourning their dogs. No matter how a dog's life was lost, I feel huge sympathy for the peoples' grief. I think we all know how awful it feels to lose a beloved dog.