It was a nice surprise to check this trail cam today and find that a family of bears visited the spring-fed wallow. Momma bear was just trying to relax, but her two cubs had different ideas.
Tag: Reconyx
Bobcats
Bobcats have been pretty active lately, both in my yard and out in the wilder places. Bobcats live around 7 to 10 years in the wild. The oldest bobcat in captivity lived to be 32 years old. Bobcats can give birth to up to six kittens, though two or three is more common, depending on available prey.
This bobcat has a territory with the best view. Seasonal rains fill up this spot dubbed the Infinity Pool.
Judging by body size and spot pattern, this young bobcat appears to be new to the neighborhood. My backyard cameras catch her regularly.
A mountain lion rests at a desert oasis
This mountain lion has been caught on my cameras on and off for nearly a year. The drainage she frequents also supports javelina and white-tailed deer, primary food sources for mountain lions in this region. When I was going to check the cameras, I came across the carcass of a deer fawn that was partially eaten and cached. I suspect that the mountain lion had very recently killed and eaten part of the fawn and was relaxing by the waterhole with a full belly.
Backyard Mountain Lion
It was an exciting thing to see a mountain lion had passed through the yard on July 10th. In the 11 years I’ve lived at this location, my cameras have caught only one other mountain lion in the backyard. I believe this is the same young male mountain lion that was trapped at Tucson Medical Center two days later. Game and Fish radio collared the lion and released him. I’m hoping one of my wild trail cams will catch him again at some point.
Bear wallow heaven
This bear takes some serious down time to relax in his private pool…
Four mountain lions
One of my cameras was lucky enough to capture a mountain lion family at a desert waterhole. The “kittens” are close to leaving mom and venturing off by themselves.
Mountain Lion Beast
This beast of a mountain lion stopped by a desert waterhole for a long drink last week. This summer’s monsoon rainfall in SE Arizona was well below normal, so water sources are few and far between. This spot not only provides water for top predators, but also mice, various bird species, deer, skunks, ringtail cats, and more… #waterforwildlife
Sleepy bear in the sonoran desert
This type of trail cam capture makes me happy because it shows an animal relaxed and comfortable in her own environment. Granted, she is a top predator and the only other predator around that would bother her is a mountain lion or human. The camera captured only about 11 minutes of video, but the bear was there for about one hour, sleeping, scratching, and resting. The water source she drinks from is a small pool left over from the summer monsoon rains. When I checked the camera, I dug out a bunch of sand, making more water available for the other desert critters who also visit this site. They include various bird and insect species, striped and hog-nosed skunks, gray fox, ringtail cats, coatimundi, and white-tailed deer.
Mountain lion romance?
First, a female mountain lion passed by the seep and scrape site. A few days later, a big male maintain lion passed by. Hoping for kiddoes next year!
A black bear and cub take a swim
After a few months away from this location, I recently returned and reset a trail camera pointing at the small seep-filled pool. Since it has been so dry, despite some monsoon rains, I was hoping this spot would attract wildlife like it had in previous years. This morning I checked the camera and as it turns out, just yesterday there was a fun visit by a sow and her cub. Notice in the first clip of them, the mother bear pulls her cub into the water, encouraging her to swim.
My Earth 