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Mountain Lion Courtship Display

These two mountain lions here in Utah are displaying courtship behavior. Although solitary, adults will find each other when the female is in heat(which could be any time of the year). She produces loud vocalizations called “caterwaul” to attract the male and he can be heard occasionally returning the call. For several days (typically around three days), they will travel together, often in roundabout paths called courtship circles…my camera just happened to be right on their path. After spending a few days together, the male will go his separate way and play no role in raising the kittens. I’ve been watching the lion with the collar for several years and this whole time I thought she was a female. Now that I’ve seen them together, it seems more likely that the other one was the female since it made most of the vocalizations. You might notice the one without the collar is missing toes on her right paw. This was most likely caused by a foothold trap. It’s a legal requirement in Utah to check foothold traps every 48hours. If the animal is left longer than that, not only is it inhumane and illegal, but the animal is also more likely to chew its own foot off to survive. This cat is clearly a fighter and although sad to see her like this, it’s unlikely that she would take the risk to mate if she didn’t feel fit enough to survive.