This homeowner had FIVE mountain lions in his yard!
Seeing a mountain lion in the wild can be a rare sight. These big cats live a solitary existence and they do not like humans very much. As a result, they normally stick to remote areas and avoid areas with people at all costs. However, with habitat loss happening in many areas, some big cats are forced to adapt to survive. That means living close to humans, sometimes even in the fields and woods surrounding our homes.
In some instances, mountain lions are wandering around right under our noses and we do not even know it. That was the case for one California homeowner who was surprised when his security camera caught not one, not two, but FIVE mountain lions together earlier this year.
See this incredibly rare footage in the video below and hear and a spokesman with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife talk about why these animals were together.
This amazing footage was captured by a home security camera in Amador County. That is the central part of the state and it is prime mountain lion country. Even most wildlife experts have rarely seen two lions together outside of breeding season. That makes this footage even more amazing.
It does seem likely that the largest cat there is the mother and that these are her last two litters of cubs. The unusual thing is that most mountain lions are on their own about a year after they are born. It is unclear why this family is still together like this. The big cats do all look fat and healthy. Adults can reach over 200 pounds in rare cases. Fortunately, their visit was late at night, so odds of an unwanted run-in with a human are low at those times.
We know that some people are wary about increased security in the modern age, but these cameras are having an unintended positive side effect. They are revealing rare scenes from nature like this that, as the Fish and Wildlife representative noted, would have gone totally unnoticed in the past.
It also goes to show that just when we think we think we know everything about nature, she throws us a curveball to show that there is still much we can learn about the animals we share this planet with.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: HOW BIG MOUNTAIN LIONS CAN GET, PLUS OTHER FASCINATING BIG CAT FACTS
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