BajaNomad - Big Cats in Baja?

Big Cats in Baja?

bajamedic - 5-14-2011 at 10:03 PM

These photos were taken just out of Phoenix, apparently a mountain lion was chasing the bob cat, but opted to discontinue the chase when considering the prickly course that followed. Has anybody had any experience with big cats in Baja? JH

Paulina - 5-14-2011 at 10:06 PM

This past spring break we had a visit from an elderly bob cat. It was attracted to the beach by a dead sea lion. I took photos but have yet to download them. I'll get on it.

>*)))>{

Russ - 5-15-2011 at 06:29 AM

Here's a cat that decided to perch on a friends entry arch with it's rabbit. Funny how it picked the yard with 3 dogs!

DENNIS - 5-15-2011 at 06:35 AM

Once saw a monster Mountain Lion up by Hanson. Perhaps it's winter coat was more full giving it the larger, darker look.

monoloco - 5-15-2011 at 06:49 AM

We have seen both bobcats and cougars here.

El Jefe - 5-15-2011 at 06:58 AM

Most of the cougars are down in Cabo. Better hunting.

shari - 5-15-2011 at 07:21 AM

we have bobcats here....who have crossed with domestic cats to create a pretty cool breed of tailess kitties...which by the way we have some on hand to give away!!! Once I saw a cougar mom & cub going down to the beach at dusk in San Roque...beautiful!

Russ - 5-15-2011 at 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by El Jefe
Most of the cougars are down in Cabo. Better hunting.

I don't know about that. Baja is full of goat ranchers and deer. Quite a few here taking care of goats in the back country.

DENNIS - 5-15-2011 at 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Russ

Quote:

Originally posted by El Jefe
Most of the cougars are down in Cabo. Better hunting.

I don't know about that. Baja is full of goat ranchers and deer. Quite a few here taking care of goats in the back country.

It's early, isn't it, Russ. :lol:

BooJumMan - 5-15-2011 at 07:35 AM

Cool pictures. I feel sorry for that first bobcat though... that doesn't look too comfortable.

choyero - 5-15-2011 at 08:08 AM

We've seen hundreds of bobcats and a handfull of cougars over the yrs.

Mexitron - 5-15-2011 at 08:12 AM

Long time ago Myron Smith came around a bend down in the Sisters and saw a cougar trying to separate a calf from its mother---but the truck's sudden presence foiled the attack---the lion gave Myron a real mean sneer before he bounded off.

Bobcat/Manx cross

Pompano - 5-15-2011 at 08:14 AM

I'm holding one of bobcat/manx cats that belonged to Bill Alvarado at Punta Chivato back in the 80's. Gingerly! He had a few of them that were never quite 'tame' and kept them well fed with rabbits.

p.s. I just thought of a 'cougar' who was followed and stalked by a mountain lion a few years ago when out hiking from Posada on a trail into the mountains west of there. :rolleyes:

And these two below think they are Lions!

Grrr...Beware! We be LIONS!

I'm sure this is the first mountain ever climbed by this lion.

Nice choice of quarry, though... :rolleyes:

[Edited on 5-15-2011 by Pompano]

TMW - 5-15-2011 at 09:13 AM

Never saw a grown mountain lion in Baja but did see two cubs crossing the hwy south of Laguna Chapala in 89. I'm sure momma was just ahead of them in the brush.

Cypress - 5-15-2011 at 11:07 AM

Visited one of the isolated ranchos in the mountains west of Mulege. The owner was named Vincentie? He had traps and had lost goats to big cats, had trapped bobcats. He said there were big cats in the mountains around his place.

elgatoloco - 5-15-2011 at 12:20 PM

A few years ago right after the big brush fire near La Mision and acroos the road from Bajamar we were playing golf and a good sized bobcat crossed the fairway right in front us. He looked very healthy at about 30 pounds and not at all concerned much with our presence. His coat was mostly dark and always wonderd if it was because the surrounding brush was blackened from the fire and he rolled around in it or if his coat had changed to blend with the terrain. I was scrambling for the camera but unable to get it out in time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Bobcat

Cougars

C-Urchin - 5-15-2011 at 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by El Jefe
Most of the cougars are down in Cabo. Better hunting.

Those are migratory. They mostly inhabit spas and plastic surgeon's offices in Newport Beach. :lol:

Cats

C-Urchin - 5-15-2011 at 02:19 PM

I have a wild thing at home. Ever heard of Bengals?

redhilltown - 5-15-2011 at 11:57 PM

I am quite jealous of all these mountain lion sightings! I have been off roading, hiking, camping, backpacking for well over 35 years (often solo) and have never seen one! Though I guess in many ways the more remote you are the less chance you'll have but dang it, I wanna see one!

And as to "remote" I am of course referring to location and not mental condition

Doug/Vamonos - 5-16-2011 at 07:50 AM

I remember Macho at the PC hotel. Bad, bad kittie kat. Last spring my wife and I saw fresh paw prints in the mud of an arroyo nearby Geckos.

Pompano - 5-16-2011 at 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by redhilltown
I am quite jealous of all these mountain lion sightings! I have been off roading, hiking, camping, backpacking for well over 35 years (often solo) and have never seen one! Though I guess in many ways the more remote you are the less chance you'll have but dang it, I wanna see one!

And as to "remote" I am of course referring to location and not mental condition

I'm thinking the same thing...I've seen one set of tracks, but I have yet to see a puma in the Baja wilds, but sure would love to... with camera at the ready, of course.

tripledigitken - 5-16-2011 at 08:55 AM

I have seen one large cat, after a lifetime of backpacking and camping, and it was in Baja. It was on the south side of Mex 1 just north of Tres Virgenes, we passed it then looking in the rear view mirror I saw it slowly cross the road to the north.

We saw a Bobcat while on a day trip out to the mine at Punta Concepcion. We followed it through a narrow canyon section while crossing to the west side by the mine.

In looking at the Baja Almanac later I discovered (page 37, O2) that road ends at "Punta el Gato". :cool:

Ken

[Edited on 5-16-2011 by tripledigitken]

CortezBlue - 5-16-2011 at 10:48 AM

At my home in the desert near Phoenix (Mesa) we come across large cats occasionally.
My neighbors have a second story balcony off of their bedroom. They woke up on a cold morning to find a bob cat curled up sleeping on the porch. They are still trying to figure out how to get up to the balcony. It appears he jumped onto a 6ft tall stucco fence and then up to the balcony.

motoged - 5-16-2011 at 10:57 AM

I have seen Baja bobcats several times in my Baja journeys....once in Catavina and twice up the Concepcion peninsula.

I have seen cougars several times in BC on the backroads and trails. Once, one crossed a logging road in front of me while I was riding my motorcycle: it came from the brush on my left side, jumped into the middle of the road and then bounded into the brush on the right side of the road....it jumped about 15-20 feet per jump....

Another time, while stopped for a break during a trail ride, I saw one crouched by a large fallen Ponderosa pine....it was eyeballing me for a while before I noticed it....about 30 yards away....these days I am more wary of cougars than bears when in the outback around here (BC).

I LOVE big cats....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPQ1VUMSYZo

[Edited on 5-16-2011 by motoged]

bonanzapilot - 5-16-2011 at 12:19 PM

In the '70s, at the original Hotel Punta Chivato, an old ,blind in one eye, bobcat would come to the hotel's kitchen door each morning to be fed by the cook. He resembled the cartoon "Bill the Cat"... so, that is what the guests called him. He sat very still, looking like you could pet him if you dared, but few dared. Anyone remember that? Could someone else have named him Macho?

[Edited on 5-16-2011 by bonanzapilot]

bajalou - 5-16-2011 at 01:11 PM

Have seen a couple at different times near San Felipe. One near Cañon Cajon, the other on powerline road north of Zoo rd. Estiban, who had the buildings in the mouth of Cañon Cajon was complaining about the cats killing his calves and baby burros.

BajaGringo - 5-16-2011 at 01:24 PM

Have seen a handful of bobcats and cougars over the years, from the hills around San Pedro de Martir down to the Cataviña area. Friends here tell me that bobcats used to be seen all the time out here in our area of the beach but much less in recent years...

Cypress - 5-16-2011 at 01:45 PM

Have seen three, two of 'em were practically in my front yard. Very neat critters.

bajalou - 5-16-2011 at 02:01 PM

In the late 90s a couple of people here in El Dorado reported cats on their decks where they were sleeping in the summer.

oladulce - 5-16-2011 at 02:53 PM

Last summer, on a remote stretch of beach not far from my house, someone else had been fishing and beachcombing before we arrived. No other people-prints on the beach so it wasn't somebody's pet out for a walk, and the prints had huge paw pads without the claw marks that you'd typically see in a canine/coyote.

Men's Size 10 flip flop

A meandering path among the flotsam

[Edited on 5-16-2011 by oladulce]

Eli - 5-16-2011 at 05:22 PM

Love the picture of the bobcat on the cardon. This is a great thread, reading about everyone's experinse. I would love to meet a big cat, never have except in my dreams, which I have painted a few times.

Marc - 5-18-2011 at 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano

Quote:

I'm thinking the same thing...I've seen one set of tracks, but I have yet to see a puma in the Baja wilds, but sure would love to... with camera at the ready, of course.

You don't see them, but they see you!

bajafam - 5-18-2011 at 07:22 AM

wonderful photos of these amazing creatures. they are very mysterious animals and quite awe inspiring. I know we have them where we live, but they are very elusive and I have yet to catch a glimpse of them. As long as there is prey for them to catch (and we have abundant cottontail bunnies and jack rabbits) they will stick around (just out of sight of course) and like all wild creatures, if the food is gone they move on (or eat your pets). I prefer the former

mulegejim - 5-18-2011 at 07:47 AM

"You don't see them, but they see you!"

I think that statement says it best. Jim

Vince - 5-18-2011 at 08:17 AM

Yes, those cats are very elusive. They will find you, rather than visa versa. One time, many years ago, we were hiking in the San Pedro Martir forest with Phil Meling and the ranchhands shot a deer. They hung it up to cure a bit and the next morning there were cougar tracks all around the deer with some of the venison torn off. This is as close as I have ever been to a cougar that I know of. Never saw one.

mtgoat666 - 5-18-2011 at 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vince
Yes, those cats are very elusive. They will find you, rather than visa versa. One time, many years ago, we were hiking in the San Pedro Martir forest with Phil Meling and the ranchhands shot a deer. They hung it up to cure a bit and the next morning there were cougar tracks all around the deer with some of the venison torn off. This is as close as I have ever been to a cougar that I know of. Never saw one.

The bobcats are pretty common. i have seen them many times. the cougars are a bit more elusive. i have seen a solo in spm, and seen a family in the lagunas. have also seen ring tail cats in spm, but some say those are not cats and are some kind of cat-like racoon.