The Deer and Puma

At the moment five deer are pawing snow looking for acorns next to the house. Not far from the bird feeders. I can watch them from the kitchen window. They also enjoy browsing the herb garden, but that's under a snow drift.

Of course, there are no pumas in sight, but I know they're around too, as you'll soon see. 

Occasionally female pumas make forays into our community on "the ridge" in search of Mr Right. The caterwauling of a lovesick lady puma is a wonderful sound, but it rouses the dogs to bark up a storm, and it makes the neighbors a little testy. 

My advice to my neighbors is step out the back door and enjoy the dogs sounding off in sequence as Ms Lonely Heart moves away. Rest assured that an estrous pussy cat isn't interested in eating.      

 

Fred trees mountain lion

Fred trees a mountain lion from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.

"Fred's barking at something" came the voice from the bedroom.

"Yeah, he's barking at a squirrel -- it's his morning routine", replied the voice in the office.

(5 minutes later)

"Fred's still barking, and it sounds like he's getting farther away."

"Okay, okay, I'll check."

From the kitchen window I saw Fred "arfing" gamely up into a live oak about 60 feet from the house.

And dang me if there wasn't a tawny cat up that tree.

I rushed to the bedroom announcing "Fred's treed a mountain lion", punched my feet into my jeans (somewhat like Charleton Heston in "The Big Country"), grabbed my camera, and headed out the back door.

The svelte cat was eyeing Fred from a safe height of 35 feet, and as I snapped a few pictures it turned its humiliated gaze on me.

Better shoot some video, I thought.

My soothing "Niiiice kitty" failed to improve the cat's disposition, but energized the dog even more.

Then Kitty moved to a new position and plotted her escape down some low-hanging limbs.

I shuffled down slope, grabbed Fred's collar, and filmed with my right hand as she crept out on the bendy limb.

In spirit and style, Kitty's getaway could only be that of Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid, and in a few moments her getaway was complete, as you saw in the video.

How did this come about?

Well, you might have heard my wife's voice in the video.

She was on the phone with my thoroughly jazzed neighbor "Iron Man", who called as soon as he heard the commotion.

His German Shepherd had also barked at something down in the brush, but wisely didn't give chase.

Then Iron Man saw something big moving down there, and heard Fred's full-throated bark shortly after.

Kitty was probably slinking away on our property when Fred surprised her, and vice versa. 

In retrospect, maybe the hazing taught this cat to stay away from human habitation. 

As for what was going on in Fred's skull, I'm not sure.

He may think the cat was a large variety of squirrel. (Okay, probably not.)

But I do know this wouldn't have happened without him. 


Acknowledgement

(Thanks for the photoshopping, Carl)

Rancher cam traps cat chase

This just up from the Outdoor Pressroom: a cam trap in Nebraska gets a very rare picture.

Wow -- getting photos of puma with prey is rare enough, but getting them in the heat of the chase is very rare indeed.

That smell of dead meat again

For those of you who don't recall "The smell of dead meat", here's another story on the theme.

It's about what can happen when (a) a cougar  (the four-legged variety) crawls under your deck and dies, (b) your guests notice the smell over a glass of wine, and (c) you discover that you are anosmic.

Talk about good luck -- how many folks can brag about a cougar dying under the deck?

Puma jackpot photo

This camera trap photo has to be the record for the most pumas photographed at one time, and it makes you wonder how often pumas have conventions.

Read the comments too.

I sure wish deer hunters were a little more enlightened about predator ecology and age specific survivorship.

How to solve the one-way road dilemma?

Oct. 8, 2010, 9:50 PM

Oct. 14, 2010, 1:42 AM

Oct. 18, 2010, 8:44 PM

I think it's the same cat, and it's ignoring the sign.

It seems to think it's on a one-way road.

How to get a head-on picture of this trespasser?

A) Turn the camera around.

B) Change the Posted Sign so it faces the opposite direction.

C) Urinate across the road to turn the cat back.

D) Move the road apples closer to the camera.

The big cat cometh

August 12, 2010, 3:46:10AM

The big cat came 3 nights after we set the camera trap.

That was the same night that Studly unearthed the can of cat food.

The trail was hopping with activity before the cat's appearance, but white-footed mice, wood rats, and even cottontails make a meager meal.

The cat walked on by, and after its brief appearance activity on the trail was nil.

Some fakery and a laugh.

What excites the internet like tossing a rubber snake into a cage of monkeys?

Photoshop fakery of course.

Viewers were debating the authenticity of the photo when I became aware of it about a week ago.

I was also getting an unusually high number of blog hits, so I checked my blog's stats, and found new viewers from hook and bullet forums, snopes.com, photobomb and comedycentral.

I still didn't recognize the puma picture until someone traced the cat to yours truly.

The link took me to puma on the prowl, camera trapped about a hundred yards from my house.

Had some good chuckles reading the comments.

The rubber snake doesn't fool all the monkeys, but in many of them it stirs deep fears.

They're the ones that give you the best laughs.

Not a fat cat

September 10, 4:45 AM.

This week Bob at True Value Hardware filled me in on the local kerfuffle.

He was talking about large tawny cats like this one.

Their serenades and visits have not exactly been appreciated up here on the ridge, but even so, our lawful citizens were rather scornful of one neighbor's proposal to permanently silence the offender(s).

Two days after learning of the issue I was pleased to find these photos on the camera-trap line.

September 16, 10:21 PM.

The cat is a bit on the thin side and has undoubtedly moved on by now to some other corner of its home range.

I'd be surprised if the serenading cat hasn't moved on too, and I sure hope it shows up in my neighborhood.

Puma gunned down in Berkeley

Berkeley may be an open-minded city, but it's a closed society when it comes to large tawny cats. 

Thanks to Jake K. for the latest puma news from the Bay Area.

At last a tawny cat

"You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd", and it's hard as hell to camera trap in a herd of cows.

But somehow we pulled it off.

Yes, we added mountain lion to our mammal survey of Chimineas.

It had remained on the "elusive and suspected species list" for a full year.

The dry wash we selected for set 245 didn't look particularly promising, but you never know.

We were also under the mistaken impression that there were not cattle on this particular range.

We were wrong.

Cows were coming and going day and night, and almost daily they took the liberty of adjusting the camera's perspective.

Cattle were in three quarters of the 95 photos.

But miraculously they bumped the camera back into its original position 2 and half hours before the cat strolled up the arroyo.

Sonoma puma

These photos were taken by Rod Jackson on November 2.

It was a little past 12:30 AM when the cat walked past the camera on a farm in Sonoma County. 

Rod directs the  Snow Leopard Conservancy, and is an old hand at camera trapping. 

He has relied on remote camera technology to census snow leopards in the mountain wilds of Asia for three decades. 

He also tests new camera traps near the conservancy's headquarters in Sonoma County.

This particular one was a Sony s600 with a YetiCam controller.

There is a hint of spots on the coat in the upper photo. 

According to Logan and Sweanor, the dappled coat usually disappears by the time the cats reach 2 years of age, but faint markings may persist on the legs until 30 months.

Many thanks for sharing these images, Rod. 

Reference

Logan, K.A. and L.L. Sweanor. 2001. Desert Puma, evolutionary ecology and conservation of an enduring carnivore. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Naughty pumas in Santa Rosa

I don't want to make light of this lady's misfortune.

I am sure it was scary as hell being hounded by two young cougars, but it would have been a lot worse if the cats were a few months older.

They are still honing their skills as predators.

Fortunately, the appearance of three dogs changed the cats' minds.

Let's hope they find their mom, and forget about romps in the 'burbs.

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. 

Pumas--more of the same

Let me know if you are tired of puma pictures. Though pictures of charismatic rodents like showtls send me into falsetto exclamatory rapture, I still get a thrill from pumas.

Rich found these two shots on one of the Cleary Reserve cams this weekend. And speaking of thrill, one of the photos was taken only three hours before he arrived on the scene. Not to worry. He had a class of students with him, which usually disperses wildlife for miles around. (One of these days I'll tell the story of a hike with a group of Brazilians.)



It looks like a young adult female. The spots on the inside of the hind leg could be remnants of the spotted coat of juveniles. If they don't disappear with the next moult they'll help us identify this cat in the future.

Oh yes -- a confession. These pictures sure helped me get the lead out today. I shifted into overdrive trying to finish my winterizing projects. Once the firewood is cut, the brush shredded, gutters cleaned, and the new skylight is in place, I plan to meet Rich in Marin county to begin a new camera trapping survey.

Meanwhile, just sign me, Harry Homeowner.

Back on the Mountain, Part 5

Rich and I met on the mountain the day before the 4th of July. There was no time for an overnighter, so we hit the trail a little before noon, and finished at 6:00.

The cams had been out for 2 months, and I was sure the batteries would be dead, but the auxiliary D cells were still going, though barely.

We collected the cams, so I would have some extras for the workshop, and replaced them with Rich's new cams.

The trail-scat set seen here is the most productive location. There were 144 exposures, and the puma was one of the new species. There were only two exposures, but both were full body images. The scat gets their attention long enough for the camera to power up and snap a picture -- about 3-4 seconds.



I'll post a few other shots of interest in the next few days.

Wine country mountain lion caught

Last week a young adult female mountain lion was found in a backyard redwood tree in the community of Agua Caliente, Sonoma county.

Thanks to snow leopard conservationist Rod Jackson for sending me the newsclippings. For the full story and a picture of the trussed-up puss click here.

The cat was tranquillized by California Fish & Game officials about 2.3 miles from the camera trap site where Rod captured the image of a similar looking puma last month.

It could even be the same cat. If so, it had crossed State Highway 12 and moved west.

Public reactions to the event differed. The gentleman who discovered the mountain lion wanted to shoot it, and one letter writer viewed the event as an ominous reminder that mountain lions are out to get us.

It seems the prevailing sentiment was relief and gratitude that Fish & Game captured it alive and intends to release in a state wildlife reserve. (Hopefully the cat is roaming free by now.)

Rods' comment was that "There's a continuing need for public education. If the Ladakhi's are willing to co-exist with snow leopards, surely Californians can live beside their 'phantom cat'".

Cougar surprise

Rod Jackson, the leading expert on snow leopard conservation has set a record for turn around time on cougar pictures. He made his camera set in Sonoma county last Tuesday (April 15) and the cat came the next morning at 7:00. That is NOT what usually happens when you are aching for pictures of cougars or bobcats.

Here's his message to me earlier today:

"The camera was angled approx 3 feet away looking down on the rock. It spent less than 10 seconds sniffing before leaving. In the next shot it is already 10 meters down the riparian strip.



"The white lines you see on the right are plastic water pipes for an irrigation system. As I said, I picked this place because of the success you have had with scenting mossy rocks. Since there was a reasonably fresh fox-sized scat there, adding a camera and bobcat scent was a simple, logical next step. A lion had killed a deer 100 m away some months back, but it was clearly too old and nothing remained to be an attractant in this case.

"What do you think about the cat's age and sex? (Codger: definitely a young adult.)

Do I detect a young male? (Codger: Yes, the equipment seems right.)

For cougar pictures on scented mossy rocks, see here, here, and here.

Do you know where your dogs are?

If you don't, read this important message.

They are in a ravine, and it's wild down there. There's a lot of poison oak and things like big tawny cats.

It's not far from your house as the crow flies, but it's several hundred feet downhill and a quarter mile from the nearest road. Easy to get lost down there. Hard to find dead dogs.

But let's face it. If one of the dogs didn't come home you would hope for the best. You'd post handbills on the power poles, with your dog's description, picture, and name. And your telephone number. Then you'd wait for the call.

But the big cat in the ravine isn't picky. Dogs are fair game. If it can catch your pet, it's going to eat it.

You are right though, there's safety in numbers. Yes, two bold dogs could stave off an attack, especially if they see the big cat first and give full-throated chase.

But the big cat has the advantage down there. If only one dog comes home acting strangely, well, there's no need for the handbill.

So if I were you, good neighbor, I'd keep my dogs around the house. And I'd lock them up at night.

The big cats around here really like dog meat.

[BTW, the redhead finds preposterous irony in this post. "That's ridiculous, what are YOU doing down there?!"
Me: "I'm looking for owl pellets -- bwaaahahahaHaaaah!"]

Another mountain lion, again

This mountain lion wasn't cooperative. The fox and bobcat at least climbed up on the rock, and other mountain lions I have photographed have done the same on other rocks. But not this time.

I had 3 cameras out this last week, and two out of three had mountain lion pictures. This cat spent nearly 4 minutes at the site, but I got only 5 pictures. The camera was cabled to a crooked bay sapling and pointed up a bit too much -- not ideally aimed for a cat standing in front of the rock. (I corrected that today).



I used artificial civetone as a scent lure, and I imagine that's what the cat is licking. It came at 5:17 PM the day after I visited the set and put out the lure.



A close examination of the ears shows a notch in the right ear. That tells me that this cat is not Big Mama reported here a few weeks ago.

The other camera photographed the distant cat moving away from the camera. Three out of four lion photos on this trail show the tail-end of the cat. It seems the cat goes up the canyon by this route but returns by a different one.

As a aside, I have found two nests of band-tailed pigeons in this ravine. They are about 50' up in a black oak and a Douglas fir.