Illustrative sequence of mountain lion photos captured on trail camera
Late last winter Large Carnivore Biologist Luke Ellsbury captured this illustrative sequence of mountain lion photos on a trail camera on the North Fork of the Shoshone west of Cody.
This male mountain lion is making a scrape with his hind legs and then urinating on the scrape. Mountain lions commonly use these scrapes to communicate their home range boundaries (200-700 km2) and in some instances breeding status to other mountain lions that may be in the area. To the untrained eye it's just a pile of duff or debris but to a skilled observer, it provides insight into local mountain lion population dynamics. Capturing this event on camera is a rare occurrence!
For more information on mountain lions or to take the mountain lion identification exam, click here.
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This male mountain lion is making a scrape with his hind legs and then urinating on the scrape. Mountain lions commonly use these scrapes to communicate their home range boundaries (200-700 km2) and in some instances breeding status to other mountain lions that may be in the area. To the untrained eye it's just a pile of duff or debris but to a skilled observer, it provides insight into local mountain lion population dynamics. Capturing this event on camera is a rare occurrence!
For more information on mountain lions or to take the mountain lion identification exam, click here.
Tara Hodges 307-527-7125