This gives you a good feel for her lanky, muscular body.
In this position she looks like she could pounce.
She came to almost the same spot as the previous night but took a drink while on all four legs this time.
Another one of my favorite shots.
Here she is in motion after getting a drink. In this shot her face looks cub like and I wondered if this was the cub. But once comparing the size and looking at the next few shots it is clear this is the adult. However, depending on the pose its often not easy to tell since the cub is fairly old and has lost his/her spots.
A great shot of the tail and how its almost as long as her body.
After a 8 minute departure from the pond, she returns. I had to examine the picture quite a bit to confirm this is the same cougar because in the next picture the face looks like a mature cougar whereas in some of the earlier shots, the couguar looks cub like. But based on the size, I believe these are all the mother. It is tricky because the distance from the cougar to the camera is only about 8-12 feet so slight changes in the position of the cougar make her look very different in size. Also, if she is standing, crouched or her facial expression makes a big difference too. That is why the composition of placing them in the same photo was required to confirm two different cougars were visiting.
After another 6 minutes outside of the view of the camera trap she returned to the canyon. It appeared she was heading to the front of our house but who knows what she was up to.
Here is my final shot of this amazing predator as she enters Barranca Canyon where based on other recent Phototrap shots she will find deer (her main prey), coyote, fox, raccoon, bobcats, rabbits, squirrels, etc. She put on a show that was beyond my wildest dreams!
