CougarMagic

Places to go

2008-12-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

This cat is very active in this particular canyon. The video quality leaves a lot to be desired, but there was no good place to set the camera down at cougar level...so it ended up high on the slope above. It's really interesting to see the "scrape" behavior in action. When the lion squats down, he is scraping up a pile of dirt with his back feet. He then marks it with his scent (which is a euphemism for peeing on it).

Best Yet

2008-11-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is the lion that we recently got some nice still pics of (see the October 11th entry, "Holy Cats!"). It's the first time I've gotten repeat footage of the same cougar, the first time for daytime footage, and by far the longest clips and some behavior other than a quick walk by. We still have this camera in this location, and will check it in another three weeks. With any more luck, we will see this beautiful animal again. Many thanks to my great friends and fellow camera trappers, Pam, Jane and Mark for going with me this time, and helping with the setup.

This was taken on October 30th, at 1:00pm in the afternoon.

By the way, the pause in the middle is not a video glitch - the lion is just standing dead still, on alert for something.

Smokey The Bear

2008-11-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Finally some good daytime video of a bear. All bears in California are Black Bears - even the ones that are brown. I have yet to see a black Black Bear here actually.

Timmy The Fox

2008-11-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

These little guys are starting to grow on me. Their curiosity is fun to see. This one is a regular visitor to this camera. He comes by every few nights, and pees on it. What a charmer.

Arcadia Police Shoot Cougar

2008-11-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

On November 5th, an LAPD officer shot a mountain lion that had just attacked and killed a dog. There have been other attacks on dogs along the front range of the San Gabriels lately. Let's hope it's not a trend.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_10922894

Though this "problem" lion is now gone, as long as there are cougars in the San Gabriels, there will be a cougar in this territory, and they will quickly learn that backyard dogs are easy prey. Whatever strong feelings you have for wildlife, whether you think animals are beautiful and valuable and should be protected at all cost, or whether humans need to take whatever steps they feel necessary to protect themselves and their property, the best solution is prevention. Please, if you live in foothill or wilderness areas, protect your pets by bringing them inside at night, or keeping them in a safe enclosure with a roof. If everyone took these simple steps, lions would not learn to hunt pets, and neither animal would have to die.

Stray Cat Strut

2008-11-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hey ma - he followed us home - can we keep him? Pleeeeaassee?????

This place is wild

2008-11-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

Holy Cats!

2008-10-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Oh, it's a funny, funny story. You know how I have spent the last 8 months or so trying to get a picture of a cougar? Along comes our friend Ken - who says, hey, this seems like fun. I think I'll try it....goes out and buys a camera, and the FIRST place he tries, he gets this beautiful lion. And it's just a killer shot, too. And there's more - I had a camera in almost the same spot - tied to the same tree even, but just a few degrees off angle, and I got nothin.

So most of the credit goes to him - but some of the credit actually goes to James, who coined the phrase "cougarmagic, don't fail me now", and thus invented the Cougarmagic brand. (Once again, for those of you just joining in - Cougarmagic has nothing whatsoever to do with dressing like a skank, having big hair, a fake tan, and trying to pick up 20 year old men in bars.)

Anway...James looked past the inconvenience of my suggestion to ride bikes to get the cameras (my bike, which I had not used in quite some time, turned out to weigh a lot more than "modern" mountain bikes, have no shocks, no brakes, and was no longer able to shift gears. So we got to walk the bikes along the trail for a while, which I think they enjoyed). And he hardly complained about losing his expensive sunglasses in the bushwhack up the canyon. No, James still brought the cougarmagic.

Congratulations Ken! Great first set!!

Who?

2008-10-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

This is a first...and very, very cool!

Just getting started...

2008-10-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Where to start?! We hit the trailcam jackpot this week. I'll start with the usual suspects - a bear, deer, and fox who visited this watering hole. Ho hum, *yawn*, BORING.

Yes, deer

2008-09-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a lovely shot. This is how wildlife is all the time - perfect, healthy, living in a nice place with great weather and beautiful views. All thanks to Walt Disney.

Water Rights

2008-09-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is another assortment. It's long, and not the most interesting, but the skunk and possum fight is pretty neat. I also like the raccoon washing his hands in the pool (and then taking a drink from the pool...do we need to have a discussion about hygiene?).

New Bear

2008-09-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Gonna have to change my blog to Bear Magic, apparently. This guy is not pleased with the camera. Luckily he didn't damage it, but he did knock it over, so this was the end of animal pics for this particular set.

A friend and I have seen fresh tracks for this bear wandering around an occupied tent. The person inside was still asleep, and I'm guessing never even knew there had been a visitor during the night!

We're ready for your closeup

2008-08-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of hikers walk by the camera and never notice it, but nothing escapes the bears' attention.

Curious Canine

2008-08-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

I love these closeups.

Da Bears

2008-08-26T09:36:00.001-07:00

Some really nice still shots of Mr Bear this week, looking for grubs in this old log.

Ever get the feeling....

2008-08-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

...that you're being watched? These hunters didn't.

Wildlife Sampler

2008-08-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

This fox is enchanted by the small piece of deer hide that we placed on the log. She also notices, and attempts to sneak up on, the camera at the end.

One Fox, Two Fox...

2008-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey - three foxes!

Go Bruins!

2008-08-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to jump right in with the posting, since all of you are already familiar with CougarMagic. Today, Pam and I checked on two of the cameras, and it was a wildlife bonanza. The location will remain undisclosed while my cameras remain there, which could be a while if this luck holds up. We got more footage of our magnificent bear, some daytime shots of an adorable grey fox mom and her two rambunctious kits, and the usual assortment of coyote, deer, and squirrels. For now, here is our ursine beast. I'll post the others tomorrow (left handed typing is a pain, not to mention left-handed video editing). Also, all comments on this bear are more than welcome - male or female? Guesses on weight? Did it just eat an unlucky hiker, or is it pregnant? (we think the belly looks pretty round).