Tag Archives: Mountain Lion

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I'll let Amy Ruegg tell the story.

Amy wrote, “Saturday night 7/27/24 while we were watching the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, at about 10:15 or so, Sydney [the dog] barked loudly twice in a way she hadn't before and jumped to the balcony railing with a growl. We brought our brightest flashlights out and there were four sets of glowing reflective eyes shining back at us. Eric's flash photography revealed the mother Mountain Lion - huge and muscular - and three Cubs about the size of Bobcats with spots still on their coats. The lions were not fearful. They remained for maybe 15 minutes or so. We think they may have been getting a drink from the spring behind our house.

“The next morning, a gathering of Turkey Vultures was assembled on trees and ground nearby, possibly indicating the site of a kill from the night before. We think the mother Mountain Lion may have made a kill, perhaps a Fawn or other animal, then led her Cubs to the water for a drink. After several minutes, she moved leisurely on into the night.”

Amy said the Deer were absent the next day, but returned on Monday. Amy wrote further, “If you watch nature very closely, you will see these subtle clues. With the Deer back in the neighborhood, I am pretty certain the Mountain Lion family has moved on."

Amazing! Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here and to Amy for telling the story.

Warm and breezy today! No fog.

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Pat Whelan's motion detector camera has been busy lately. Just several weeks ago it photographed a Black Bear, which I shared on this blog. Then this beautiful Mountain Lion saunters across her front porch, looking very comfortable with the surroundings. Here's a screen shot from the video.

And here is the video: Mountain Lion visit courtesy of Pat Whelan

Thanks to Pat for allowing me to share this photo and video with you here.

Sunny and very breezy today. The wind whipped up the Pacific Ocean, creating many whitecaps.

 

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A large, healthy-looking Mountain Lion has been seen twice at Pat Whelan’s home at The Sea Ranch. Pat wrote, “ Our critter cam spotted this big Mountain Lion walking through our yard this morning at 12:50 am, Feb. 22. Elegant, confident and handsome!  We live on the north end of Sea Ranch.” The Cougar paid the Whelans another visit a week or so later. Pat wrote, “Cougar sighting again in our yard on critter cam at 5:30 am.”

As I watched the videos, it sure looked like the Mountain Lion was comfortable in his or her surroundings. It’s hard to tell if it’s a male or female. This is the time of year most Mountain Lions mate. This could be a male here to mate with one or several females over the next few weeks.

Thanks to Pat for allowing me to share this screen shot with you here.

It's raining this afternoon! Good weather for watching the Academy Awards.

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Jon and Susan Sandoval heard a noise on their deck in Gualala about 8:30 pm. They found this female, adult Mountain Lion staring back at them.

Doesn't she look healthy and strong? It's a mystery why she was on the Sandoval's deck because they do not have house pets or animals such as chickens to attract her. Amazing! Maybe she was following the scent of a Deer, her favorite prey.

Thanks to Susan for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Lots of cooling, moist fog on the immediate coast today, keeping temperatures in the 60's - nice!

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The proliferation of trail cameras gives us insight into our natural world. Carl Romick wrote, “Our trail cam picked up this photo last Thursday at 9:50 am. The path is above Galloway Creek off Schooner Gulch Road, about three quarters of a mile from the coast.”

It’s striking that this Cougar was seen mid-morning. They are supposed to be nocturnal, but we have had several recent sightings in the daylight hours.

Joni Goshorn's trail cam captured a video of a Mountain Lion near Point Arena. It's quite misty and you can see the time is 12:25 am on June 23.

6-23-22 1225am Mountain lion in the mist

Thanks to Carl and Joni for allowing me to share their photo/video with you here.

It's a foggy day here today with temps in the low 60s. It's always nice when Mother Nature helps to water our gardens with nice, moist fog!