Early Spring sightings...

It's still somewhat early in the spring out here, so the opportunities for wildlife sightings are a bit limited.  The snow on north-facing slopes is still deep - I had to push through about two feet of the white stuff when I went to swap out camera memory cards yesterday - and if it's hard for me to walk through, it's a tough slog for the animals, too.  Needless to say, it was slim pickings when looking through the videos.  One camera had 314 videos of snow falling, wind blowing and squirrels and rabbits.  It's frustrating when that happens, but part of the deal.  Makes finding the cool stuff even more exciting.  

The good news is that the snow is melting pretty fast, and that means that we'll start seeing more over the coming weeks (bears start to emerge in late April).  It also means that we have a pond on the property once again.  It's our annual "blink and you'll miss it" moment, so I thought I'd post this photo to prove that it actually exists...

This first video this week shows a really pretty coyote.  Coyotes are typically camera shy, so it's kind of unusual that this guy would stand and pose for so long...

This second video caught me by surprise because, well, getting video of a mountain lion is always super cool.  In this video, a lion is captured as it walks past the stock tank I've placed on our property.  The tank provides water for wildlife and gives me an opportunity to film them as they visit.  This guy (or gal) looks healthy, so hunting over the winter must have been pretty good.  

It always gives me a little of the shivers when I see a big cat walking around out there.  The tank is literally 100 yards from our front porch. 

Since the lion walks by so quickly, I created a photo from the video so you can get a good look at him (or her).  Mary noted that his (or her) head looks rather small for an animal with such a big body.  Made me chuckle when I looked at it in that way, but I'd never laugh at a cat in person.  They're remarkably vain, and you don't want to make them angry...