EXPERIENCE
OUR YARD CAT
(Members of FMWAS will remember long-time board member, Morris Clark. After retiring he and his wife, Katie moved to just outside Livermore, Colorado. We saw our first Mountain Lion from our home last Sunday afternoon. The lion was in a rock formation, which is on our property approximately 200 hundred yards from where I took the last two pictures on our driveway. All three pictures were taken through my scope. Katy called me outside to see a large brown bird, which had flown out of site before I could see it. However, based on her description it was a Golden Eagle. While we were scanning with binoculars the valley and rock formations where eagles are frequently seen, I spotted the Mountain Lion sitting on a high rock.
I have always thought that our property is excellent habitat for Mountain Lions, but until now have not seen one here. We have three large rock formations, 100 to 200 feet high, around our home which look like perfect resting and denning sites. Also, Mule Deer, which is one of the primary prey species of Mountain Lions in this area, regularly pass through our property. We do always have to be conscious of the possibility of crossing paths with a Cougar. And, even though, Cougar attacks on humans are very rare, they do occur sometimes. To try to be educated and well informed, I have read five books on Cougars, which include their behavior and Cougar-human interactions.
Cougars have large home ranges sized depending on prey density as well as a lion’s sex, reproductive condition, and age. In Colorado, the size of home ranges vary from 15 to 270 sq. miles for females and from 50 to 320 sq. miles for males. Male territories overlap several female Cougar home ranges extensively, encompassing some of them completely. In our area, their sizes of home ranges are probably near the low numbers because of the high density of prey species. Still, the probability of crossing paths with one is very low. However, we do try to reduce the risk of an encounter by avoiding activities during dusk, the nighttime, and dawn. These are the times that Cougars are most active and hunting for prey. We do take several precautionary measures when taking walks or hiking down through the trees and rocks to our lower meadow.
I enjoy living in the realm of wild things: birds, of course, the many species of mammals, and even large predators. And, even though, our European ancestors with their belief that all of nature was designed to serve us have methodically gone about wiping out all large predators in their drive to domesticate the United States, and succeeding in eliminating Grizzly Bears and Wolves in Colorado and most of the states, it is refreshing to know that there are still Cougars living in these mountains.
By Morris Clark
