I've seen all sorts of interesting things, but a life as a hunter and outdoorsman will allow one to. My best has probably got to be the time I got to watch a mountain lion stalk two does and a fawn.

I was sitting on the top of an 1100ft hill, roughly 600ft above the valley land below. I was watching the "backside" of the hill, really for no more purpose than I like to watch hillsides. I'm in central CA's foothills, at the base of the Sierras. Just a little east of Orange Cove, south of highway 180. The country is mostly open grasslands, with a few scattered oaks.

I was above the scene as it played out, and had been watching the deer graze peacefully. At about the same time, one of the does and I started to look to the doe's west, I wasn't sure just why, but something seemed to be "off" in that direction. I think I saw it first, a tail visible above the grass/weeds/vegetation. She, the doe, just kept looking and sniffing. Finally she decided it was enough of a feeling to warrant caution, moved in the direction she was suspicious of.

That's when it got weird. I know that mothers will go to great lengths, even suicidal ones, to protect their young, but I wasn't familiar with anything like this. Mind you, there are two does, presumably only one of them is the mother...

The "lead" does took a few aggresive steps towards the stalking lion, and stopped. She stood there huffing? Grunting? I'm not sure what she doing. The other doe basically took the fawn and through careful directional nudges, got the fawn to move away from the "lead" doe. At about this point the lion realized his cover was blown and stood up from his stalk position.

I can't speak for the doe, but this was the first I knew for certain what had been stalking her. I'd heard that mountain lions inhabited this area, and had seen big cat tracks before, but I never really knew if they were just big bobcats, or large-looking tracks made in softer dirt or mud. Now I knew firsthand that the big cats did indeed stalk the same hills I did. Mind you, when I saw the tail moving through the grass, I was pretty sure what it was, but nothing beats that moment when the big cat steps into full view. In any case...

Now that the lion is in full view, the "lead" doe gets even more upset, and the other doe and the fawn greatly increase their speed of departure. The lion it seems figures he may give it at least a half-hearted attempt, and makes a less than spectacular lunge towards the lead doe.

She holds her ground. Then she rears up onto her rear legs, and begins thrashing her front legs at the lion! The lion backs up, seemingly taken aback, and the doe pursues! She starts stamping the ground and pawing at the lion. He seems to want none of this and dashes further back. When he does, the doe turns and runs to joing the other two, who are now quite a ways away, and have slowed their gait. She catches up with them and they make a liesurely retreat down the hill we're all on, and up the next.

The lion follows them at a comfortable distance, I'm assuming with the intent of making another go of it, but never does. I watch until they're hard to see, perhaps a mile or so off, and then, for lack of anything better, standup, holster my sidearm, and walk off down the other side of the hill.

It was truly an unforgettable moment. The sort of thing I'll forever be grateful to see. I couldn't have asked for a better vantage point, and I was close enough that it seemed like I was watching it on TV through a telephoto lens (indeed, that very evening I felt an urge to buy Mutual of Omaha insurance...). It's the sort of thing that makes my listen politely and smile when someone describes to me how wildlife interact, and how they'd never behave a certain way. The sort of tale I tell when folks ask me why I don't attend any church services, and I explain how I feel more at one with my god wandering about in the world. Just writing about it makes me want to play hooky from work tomorrow and go out to see what I can see...

MV