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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Mountain lion research in the news



(Michael Macor / The Chronicle)

The feature article in last Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle was about a research project on mountain lions. The University of California study, which you may read about here is taking place in the Santa Cruz mountains.

They're using camera traps, too.

I squandered many months of my youth roaming the hills there.

I saw a lot of woodpeckers, but I never saw a mountain lion. 








6 comments:

Mr. Smiley said...

I saw an Ocelot in Costa Rica but never a Mountain Lion in California. How times have changed.

DR

Anonymous said...

Good job with the images... AMAZING photos!

Fred Smilek
Email- Fred_Smilek@yahoo.com
Webpage- http://sites.google.com/site/fredjsmilek/

Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded in 2006 by Fred Smilek along with his two best friends Charles and Jonathan.

Bornean Rose said...

amazing photo...excellent!

cliff said...

Just wondering what kind of animal is in the tree just above the pumas shoulder? The article never mentioned that a cub was treed with the female plus it doesn't look like a cub.

Great article and study, hope they don't restrict the travels of the cougar between areas. This is what gives the cats a bad name when they feed on pets as they pass through residential areas.

Camera Trap Codger said...

You've got a good eye, Cliff. Looks like the non-biting end of a cougar cub.

coyote said...

Looking at the thing above the mountain lion's shoulder, i would say it is a branch of the tree. Look at the other branch that the right front paw is resting on-- very similar. It seems to be a madrone. You can see the lower part of the branch suspected of being a puma cub under the critter's tummy. That's how it looks to me, anyway. One other thought i had is that it could be a dead deer stowed in the tree.