As I was driving up to see my horses this weekend, I decided to take my side road and check out the footprints. Let's see...it rained last about 8 days ago up there. And, yup...I found them again...mountain lion prints (see top photo). Apparently he/she has now claimed this road as its territory. I believe he or she passes through here (see rocks in bottom photo) to another territory, maybe down in the canyon. I don't see deer up in this area of the canyon, but there are plenty of rabbits and even bighorn sheep. Honestly, I'm puzzled because this road is frequently traveled by folks going in and out of a private development, and I spotted several human tracks going up and down it. (I'm learning to "read sign"!) But, there they were! I also noticed other animal tracks directly across the dirt road from them. It must have been a busy few nights up there! Finally, there was a dead coyote about 50 years from the road. I'm not sure if it was hit by a car and managed to crawl off the road to die or if the mountain lion killed it. IF that's what happened, would the mountain lion kill a coyote? It's head was pretty well mangled, but the rest of the body was intact...any ideas? Nature Notes for January 20, 2011.
