Pitch dark under a moonless sky in the coastal sage scrub of
San Diego County, we were a few miles from the town of Julian.
My fellow biologist and I started unpacking our sleeping gear.
Just then a terrifying sound gave me an adrenaline jolt I'll never
forget!
I remember that for a split second I froze and felt every
hair on my body stand on end. There was no doubt in my mind that a
mountain lion had just screamed right in my ear!
We rushed back to the car and still trembling continued, not stopping
until reaching the bajada
in the Anza Borrego desert.
The mountain lion photos that appear on this page I took at the Living Desert Wildlife & Botanical Park in Palm Desert. It is a great place to see and photograph desert plants and animals. Photographers note: The first photo is recent (Spring '02) and I used my Olympus OM 2s camera with a Zuiko macro f3.5 lens (I've processed this image extensively). The others are with my Vivitar zoom extension doubler and the Zuiko 55mm f1.2 lens.
The film was Kodak Gold ASA 200 for the first photo and ASA 100 for the others.
On a trip with my biologist wife to the San Diego Zoo an announcement was being made, "At 12:30 there will be a special
presentation on the mountain lion". The announcement went on to give further details and I looked at my watch to see if we
would have time to stride to the presentation. We did, and sat down close where
the view was excellent.
The zookeeper/presenter had the juvenile Mountain Lion on a leash. It hopped onto a wooden stump.
The trainer asked us to listen closely, "What do you hear?", she implored, holding the microphone to the big cat.
"It's PURRING !", we exclaimed.
Mountain Lions are the largest cats that actually purr
and the sound is not too different from that of the ordinary domestic cat (Felis domesticus).
If there is any chance that your living space or recreation areas border on Mountain Lion habitat then I recommend you click and read the hyperlink called Safety Tips!
Calif. Mtn Lions Nat Hist O.C. Safety Tips Living Desert Index Back (previous page) 
