The past month I’ve posted a teaser or two about the mountain lions that hung around for a few days. Tonight, the video arrives! Yes, it’s a LONG video, but each day I saw them, I noticed new things.
First. This has been a bucket list item for me. I’ve seen the tail of one sliding into the tall sagebrush as my headlights turned into our road long ago. In fact, the next day, my boys and I tracked it through the snow a ways, just to make sure it really was a lion. Yes, their tails do leave an imprint in the snow!
I’ve seen tracks. I’ve seen their deer kills. I’ve seen dead ones. (Wyoming does have a hunting season for them.) I filmed the kill and drag video back in December. Just by chance, Daniel spotted a mom and an older kitten driving home one day. Honestly, if he hadn’t seen them, we probably never would have noticed them.
But he did. And I went back the next day, knowing they wouldn’t be there… but she was. Then I saw her with a kitten. Then I saw two kittens. THERE WERE THREE! My videography improved when I knew where they went. My photos range from wintery blues to the warmth of the setting sun. I saw them cleaning themselves, sharpening their claws, hanging out in the trees, and disappearing into their surroundings like magicians.
I was happy to have four grandchildren with me one night and I stopped and pointed the lion out to them. I would point to it on my camera screen, then zoom in, so the kids could follow with their eyes. Pointing things out to kids can be frustrating, but I made sure they all saw the lion!
A few days after “our” lions left, I was driving home from work, and saw three kittens on the highway! These were younger and there was no mom in sight. This just a mile from where I had been watching the others. I went from seeing no mountain lions to seeing SIX within a month!
THEY ARE LONG GONE.
THESE VIDEOS WERE FILMED LAST MONTH.
I WAS FILMING FROM MY CAR.
RARELY DID THEY EVEN LOOK MY WAY.
THEY ARE LONG GONE.
My fantastic little camera is a Canon SX740hs (affiliate link).
P.S., my Work Ethic video should be up and running off of a Youtube link now. Sorry for the mixup.
Find me here!
what patience you have with the kids, dog and holding and zomeing the camera in. GREAT JOB. I always watch the videos. what a life experience for the kids. Felt like I was in the car with you. thank you so much.
Amazing video of the mountain lions .
Amazing! I found your video when we had a lion drag prey across our driveway (15 feet from our house) and I was verifying the drag marks. I have a few good photos of lions on our place, but no video (we are on the eastern face of the Bighorns). I loved this video!!! Thank you for sharing!!
I recognize your name as I work at the Ten Sleep Library! Thanks for the comment! Take care and watch yourself…
Def makes walking into the house after dark feel a bit more … exciting ….
Librarians are some of my fave people 🙂 Great blog.
Oh my, oh my, oh my. Words fail me for how cool this was. I was really impressed at how close you could zoom in. What was the camera? Lens? GoPro? I was completely mesmerized. Someone said it was like the National Geographic. I think it was better than that!
I watched twice and probably will watch again. And at the end where she was grooming herself!!! LIke a regular cat after it eats.
This is amazing Carol like watching National Geographic!
Thanks for taking the time to share with us!!
So happy that your wish came true!
Thank you for this fascinating video! Beautiful animals, those mountain lions. I hope they can continue to lead their life and stay safe from hunters and cars, wherever they are now. How exciting it must’ve been to observe them “in person”! Your camera sure zoomed the cats in wonderfully for us to see close up. Great video, a real treat.
WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!
Amazing shots. They look really comfortable in their big back yard. How concerned are you about riding or hiking alone through the area?
WOW!