David K - 4-28-2005 at 07:49 AM
Sent in by Baja Nomad 'BillB' taken in Arroyo El Volcan a couple weeks ago...
how big?
eetdrt88 - 4-28-2005 at 09:03 AM
are those tracks of a full grown mt. lion or a juvenile???
Looks full grown
jrbaja - 4-28-2005 at 09:24 AM
and it probably had a tail about 3 feet long which I have seen elsewhere.
There is this place in the mountains where they corral bighorn sheep to protect them from the marauding lions. I found it a little hard to believe
until they showed me.
There is still some pretty wild stuff roaming around down here. Besides the gringos
Corky1 - 4-29-2005 at 05:47 PM
Hey,
I took a nap in that arroyo about 3 weeks ago.
I didn't see any big kittys??
I did feel a little spooky when walking is the wash.
Now I know why TW wanted out of there!!
Corky
Diver - 4-29-2005 at 05:58 PM
This shot was taken by a motion-activated camera placed out near some mountain lion tracks.
Best to look behind you in the woods !!!
The local mountain folk
jrbaja - 4-29-2005 at 06:04 PM
are mighty happy when they know the dogs are going into the mountains with us. And, so am I !
Mexray - 4-29-2005 at 11:07 PM
Predators in the wild are a curious thing. While they are a danger to those who may cross their paths - eliminate them and 'nature's balance' goes
out of whack!
'Nature' this week on PBS told several 'predator' stories...how killing off all the wolves years ago in Yellowstone Nat Park allowed the elk, (and
rabbits, rats, etc) now without any natural enemies, to roam unchecked in the river bottoms, eating all the tender willows along the banks. With no
willows to eat and provide dam fodder, the beavers disappeared and the river eroded it's banks during spring run offs. The unchecked river's damaged
gravels caused fewer fish to spawn, etc. etc...all because the wolves were removed!
The wolves have been returned to Yellowstone Nat Park a few years ago. The packs are watched closely by the naturalists. The Elk are now cautious
about browsing on the willows out in the open where they are easy pickin's by the wolves...the willows have again thrived without all those elk
choppers nipping the tender shoots...the Beavers again have stick material to make their dens and dams among the willow thickets to create quiet pools
in the shallows.
The PBS program also told of the reef destruction in the ocean being accelerated by the lack of predator species (AKA: Sharks) through overfishing,
gill nets, long lines, 'by-take', etc, etc. With fewer predators to bother them, the reef fish increase in numbers and devour coral and reef
vegetation, helping along the 'death' of the reef.
Of course, as we all learned in high school biology, the predators help to 'weed out' the slower movers to keep the overall herd strong...or something
about survival of the fittest, as it were!
Strange how Nature's balance worked great for millions of years, till we discovered spears and began to trek around the planet screwing things up!