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by WoodGuide | Dec 10, 2023

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Robert on Spring Fever

awoodswalk_photography

Wildlife ecologist, photographer, camera trapper, and certified tracker with a primary focus of studying martens and fishers.
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While most other cougars have retreated down in el

While most other cougars have retreated down in elevation due to deep, powdery snow, this individual has found a unique reason to stay high in the mountains (at over 5,000 ft, which is 3,000 ft above the valley floor).

As the saying goes, "Fortune favors the bold." With the lion's main prey, deer (both mule and white-tailed here), having retreated to the valley bottoms, this cat would likely not be able to survive living at their current elevation, if it were not for them taking advantage of this moose carcass. Furthermore, at this time, the competitors for this carcass are few compared to those around in the summer. Black bears are in torpor; vultures have flown south; and wolves, some coyotes, and most other cougars have retreated down slope. This means, this cat is likely able to dominate this carcass and have it all to themselves, and it's even conveniently frozen, which is preventing it from spoiling.

Perhaps the one downside of a cougar being up so high in these mountains in the winter is that it keeps them in proximity to lynx. With such a small population of lynx living in these mountains (likely under 80 individuals), every individual is crucial for the population's long-term persistence. Hopefully, the lynx, whose tracks we've found within a few hundred meters of this site, will steer clear of this area until the cougar has moved on.

Nikon Z6II + 24-50mm lens, f/13, 1/200, ISO 1600 + 2 flashes

#mountainlion #cougar #puma #catamount #panther @pantherapumas #winter @cougarconservancy @utahmtnlionconservation #cameratrapping #camtraptions @camtraptions #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nikon @nikonusa

The lion has officially returned to the moose carc

The lion has officially returned to the moose carcass that @cyberpunkecology found about three weeks ago. After what may have been an absence of a week or more, with evidence of coyotes scavenging in the interim, the lion showed back up possibly the night before or the night that I set my camera. With now three entrances to the moose carcass, and a lot of the carcass still remaining, this cat may well be sticking around full-time again. It is still unclear at this time how the moose died, but however it did, it ended up in the middle of the stream.

Nikon Z6II + 24-50mm lens, f/13, 1/200, ISO 1600 + 2 flashes

#mountainlion #cougar #puma #catamount #panther @pantherapumas #winter @cougarconservancy @utahmtnlionconservation #cameratrapping #camtraptions @camtraptions #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nikon @nikonusa

This was an incredible encounter today and a good

This was an incredible encounter today and a good reason to always have your camera with you 😅! I was down along a river changing the batteries in my trail camera when I saw a dipper downstream of me posted up high on a boulder on the river's edge. I thought to myself that it seemed a strange behavior for the bird, and I noticed it watching something below it that was out of sight for me. Eyeing the dipper a minute more, I suddenly saw ripples in the river coming upstream. Up popped the head of this mink!

The mink of headed straight towards me. Running and then swimming from rock to rock, it never saw my prostrate form concealed behind a convenient wall of snow. Swimming from more than 30 yards away to just 15 feet in front of me, the mink finally took shelter in the small rocky alcove in front of which I happened to be positioned. For a number of minutes the mink poked its head and body in and out of the rocky feature. It would swim a little in the still pool not more than 10 feet in front of me before returning to its shelter.

It finally seemed to take notice of me after maybe 8 minutes of this. Puzzled but not really afraid, the mink approached me along the bank. Not moving a muscle, only shifting my gaze, the mink continued to approach...10 feet...6...just 4 feet away. It climbed the snow bank I rested on. Standing on its hind legs, it curiously stared at me, and I met its gaze. Content that I was no threat, the little fella scurried past me, upstream and out of sight, leaving me breathless.

A raccoon vigorously shakes water from its coat, p

A raccoon vigorously shakes water from its coat, pelting both its mate and my camera with water droplets.

#raccoon #procyonlotor #methowvalley #river #awoodswalk #cameratrapping #nikon #nikonphotography #nikonoutdoors #wildlife #wildlifephotography #wildlifetracking #washingtonstate #washington #cute #camtraptions #nikonz7ii @camtraptions @nikonusa @natgeo

Finally! I've photographed snowshoe hares in every

Finally! I've photographed snowshoe hares in every fur and environment combination except white on white. Today, while snowshoeing out from our lynx trail back to our sleds, a curious shape caught my eye. Doing a doubletake, I suddenly realized it was a snowshoe hare, and only a few meters away. This little loaf of fluff couldn't have been a more cooperative subject. Thank you little one, and best of luck to you!

#snowshoehare #rabbit #rabbitlife #winter #snow #snowtracking #wildlife #wildlifephotography #methowvalley #northcascades #mountains #pnw #cute

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