"New" Santa Monica mtn. lion

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:13 am

Exciting to find evidence of this male, who has not been collared (yet). It would be great if he has unique DNA and can reduce the inbreeding that's happening there. This is our friend Bernd's camera. We waited 6 weeks, and went through LOTS of video of deer and squirrels before we got this "hit".

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 9:35 am

Nice vid! And that's a good sized meowser!

HJ

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:11 pm

I'm guessing Seth and Jeff were your first calls.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:03 pm

Tracker, have you seen "scratching posts" like this? This is the first I've seen it. I would have assumed bear if it wasn't in the Santa Monicas (plus the scratches are so low to the ground). I would love to get video of this guy scratching here, if that's actually what happened to the tree.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:26 am

Could it be deer?

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:13 am

So CM, how much mountain lion movement, if any, is there between the Santa Monicas, the Simi Hills, the Santa Susanas, and the Los Padres? Or despite the existence of wildlife corridors, do the 101 and 118 effectively hem the Santa Monica cats in?

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:50 am

mattmaxon wrote: ↑Could it be deer?

Yeah, we were thinking antler rubbing - but the fresher marks are really narrow and deep and there is some fur embedded in the scratches too.

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:36 am

omg that's his scratching post??!

Mountain lions "knead" too, I assume? Have you ever seen this on tape?

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:24 pm

Maybe a little of both? Cat and deer? The big tree in the middle and the one to the left have more of the deer look. Equal length parallel cuts in the other look like cat. Deer rubs will have fine fur and often blood in them. The sharp cuts from cats will spread with time depending on the tree and bark growth rate.
I watched a young lion scratching on a eucalyptus several years ago. The razor-like marks became as wide as my finger and still visible 5 years later.
Hard to say. That's what makes it interesting.

norma r · Post by **norma r** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:53 pm

Yay!

So happy to know there is still a cougar in the SM's. I assume you posted a camera near that scratching tree, eh?

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 2:06 pm

Rico - there is at least one good passageway under the 118 giving them access to the Simi Hills. But only one lion has been documented to cross the 101 (P12). The tracking data shows many of them go up to the 101 repeatedly, and seem to look for a way across (that's reading into it a bit, but it's a reasonable assumption).

Ze - I'm sure they knead. Never seen it on video, no. They purr too..

Norma - yes, the video above was taken at the scratching tree. Just no scratching happened.

The camera is still out there, so I hope he comes back.

Tracker - thanks for the input. Makes sense. I didn't see any fur in the scratches, but I also didn't look very closely. I'll check it out next time I'm there.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 2:11 pm

Not the best writing, but hey, it's from Wikipedia; what do you want?

Cat kneading
Kneading is an activity common to all domestic cats whereby, when in a state of ease, they alternately push out and pull in their front paws, often alternating between right and left limbs. Some cats actually appear to "nurse" or suck on clothing or bedding during kneading. As with most domestic animals but especially cats and dogs they retain juvenile characteristics and memories. Kneading is something a kitten does to the nursing queen to help massage the mammary glands to produce more milk. As they are weaned they no longer need to do this and tend to do it when very content. This releases pleasurable endorphins for the cat, as it was once an instinctive thing to do.

HJ

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:02 pm

They knead.
They are surprisingly like domestic cats. A tad bigger though.

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:47 am

The Jeff Goldbloom character on Jurassic Park had some great lines with some real wisdom in them. My favorites were when he spoke about Nature and how humans like to think they can predict, contain, and control it. One of the simpler lines was, "Nature finds a way..."
We see the freeways as impassable barriers. To animals they may be for a while but there are ways across them; it's just a matter of luck, time, and random chance until the passage is found.
Nature has its own seemingly impassable barriers. Vast or raging bodies of water come to mind. A desert might be just as inhospitable to an animal as a large city; but nature finds a way.
There are a lot of large drainage culverts under our freeways to allow flood waters to freely flow. The one at the 101 and Reyes Adobe comes to mind; as does the big one under the 23 in Moorpark that an escaped tiger used a few years ago.

I'm waiting for Malibu and Griffith Park to get a bear or two. That should be interesting. It will happen.
The 210 freeway is closed in La Crescenta as I type this for a bear in the center divider.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:52 pm

tracker wrote: ↑The 210 freeway is closed in La Crescenta as I type this for a bear in the center divider.

For real? How wild is that?

There's also documented evidence of a bear in the San Jacintos.

HJ

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:30 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑
tracker wrote: ↑The 210 freeway is closed in La Crescenta as I type this for a bear in the center divider.
For real? How wild is that?

There's also documented evidence of a bear in the San Jacintos.

HJ

I wonder what the first several 9-1-1 operators thought? I just saw on the news that "Animal Control Officials" darted it and gave it a ride back into the hills, so it must have been alive.
There was a bear in Julian about 10 years ago; and one in Cal City last year.
"Nature finds a way".

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:27 am

Well, at least they didn't call in the Santa Monica Police.

HJ