The puma project has been on a puma catching spree this last week: we caught 3 different animals in 4 days!
Starting Monday last week, we set out 6 road kill deer in two large properties to see what pumas we might attract. Our streak began Wednesday with the capture of 42M, a young small male we blogged about last week.
42M gets his measurements taken. (photo by Kate Richerson)
Then on Friday night/Saturday morning, we recaptured 31M, who we’ve been targeting for months now! He is a large, territorial adult who used to live by Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond, but now lives a little south of Big Basin Redwood State Park. He looked healthy and weighed about 120 pounds.
31M recovers from his hard Friday night. (photo from Trent Pearce)
Finally, on Saturday night/Sunday morning, we captured a small 75 female (43F) really close to where we caught 31M. It’s possible she was consorting with 31M, or maybe she was just coincidentally in the area. 43F is a young female (2-3 years old), but she has had kittens before, so she is definitely a reproductively active adult.
Processing 43F in the dark. (Photo by Mike Bolte)
We are excited to track these three animals who are in such different life stages. Hopefully, we can see whether 31M and 43F have mated and follow 42M as he disperses in the coming months.
43F gets some new jewelry and that’s a bottle of Perrier water, not wine! (photo by Mike Bolte)