The Tails of Two Kitties

Two weeks ago, a friend and I hiked into a local canyon, along a very popular hiking trail. As soon as we hit the canyon bottom, there were beautiful lion tracks. We knew these were fresh because it would only take a couple of hours for the hikers and mountain bikes to clear them away.



This was incredibly lucky timing. So you can imagine my surprise when, over two weeks later I returned to the trail and saw the tracks again. Hmmm...and they still looked sharp and new. And actually a little bigger than the last time. But I figured this was my overactive imagination, and walked on to check my camera. The first time we saw the tracks, they left the trail about halfway to the camera location. Today they continued the whole way! Trying not to get my hopes up, and simultaneously questioning my sanity (I was hiking solo this time) I found a big boulder to sit against while I opened the movies on my laptop. Not for comfort mind you, but to prevent a sneak attack from behind. I thought about the best way to wield a hiking pole as a weapon...(and if it broke, would REI still replace it??)

This is what I saw.



The tracks I saw were in fact new, and they were in fact also bigger. This appears to be a mating pair, since cougars aren't otherwise very social. One big male, constantly pursuing the smaller female up and down the canyon. If you look closely, you can start to tell them apart by their size.

I'd love to hear from some experts out there how long these two might pal around. Kittens in a couple of months? Fingers crossed...