|
I've photographed countless species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians since taking a passionate dive into wildlife photography a decade ago. And it's always an absolute thrill when I get my first-ever shot of something. But for all of the endless hours I spend out in the field, it was for a long time utterly surprising to never even see a Mountain Lion, much less have an opportunity to photograph one. Oh, I have countless videos of them on the 4 security cameras at my Livermore home and 5 trail cams around the property. But they have no interest in posing for me in the flesh. Earlier this year I had an intense run-in with one, however. I was walking on a road near the property at around 3:00 pm. I saw the flash of a tan animal a ways ahead of me, which I assumed was a Mule Deer. We have an abundance of them around here. But when I got close to where I saw that animal disappear in the rocks nearby, I was startled by a very loud roar, like nothing I've heard in the wild before. It was so loud that I thought it was straight above me in a nearby tree. And in fact I grabbed the pistol from my holster thinking I might need to defend myself. Yeah, I carry a pistol when I walk around here. Because of the aforementioned plethora of videos of the feline rascals. :) Well, I never did see him. But I knew exactly what it was. So I backed away slowly and hightailed it out of there.
It didn't stay long...maybe 15-20 seconds. But it was a blast...the most fun I've had viewing, and especially photographing wildlife in a very long time. Stay tuned for more Mountain Lions photos. I have high hopes for more.
0 Comments
|
