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A Southern California photographer has captured video footage of a mountain lion expressing keen interest in one of several motion-sensor cameras placed on a trail at night.

In Mark Girardeau’s footage, captured this week in the Orange County wilderness, the female cougar initially appears bewildered by the bright flashes.

She then seems to pose, briefly, before cautiously walking around the tripod and placing her face to the back of the camera, as if to peek through the viewfinder.

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Girardeau, a renowned photographer from Huntington Beach, told For The Win Outdoors that he had left seven cameras in strategic areas on private property in Trabuco Canyon.

“At the exact time the camera was capturing the images of the cat, I was at the indoor rock-climbing gym with some friends, 20 miles away,” Girardeau said.

Cookie the mountain lion, captured remotely via DLSR camera. Photo: Mark Girardeau

The mountain lion was named Cookie by the landowner. Four of Girardeau’s cameras captured footage of her as she hunted on one of her favorite trails.

“I’ve struggled for several years to consistently get mountain lions and finally have been getting a few in a couple different areas,” Girardeau explained. “When looking for camera locations, I look for game trails which are paths made naturally by the animals, and I also look for tracks of different animals.”

His footage reveals the stealthy, curious nature of these nocturnal hunters, and Girardeau is fortunate to have had multiple cameras in order to capture this scene.

“The last time I got a DLSR shot of one, I did not have a second camera recording the reaction on video, so this is cool because otherwise I would have had no idea that it was checking out the back of the camera,” he said.

More than likely, Girardeau acknowledged, Cookie was more interested in his scent than the camera or tripod.

–Video and images are courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors

A pheasant hunter in North Dakota relied on his law enforcement instincts when a mountain lion emerged from the tall grass and charged him.

The frightening incident occurred Thursday afternoon in the Custer Mine hunting area near Garrison while Gary Gorney of Minot was on his cellphone, according to the Minot Daily News.

When his dog suddenly went on point, Gorney quickly put his cellphone in his pocket, expecting a pheasant to take flight. Instead, a mountain lion appeared and charged him.

“I dropped my dad’s 100-year-old double-barrel [shotgun], I don’t even remember doing that, and went for the sidearm that I carry with me underneath my jacket,” Gorney told the Minot Daily News. “My instincts as a military law enforcement officer took over. There was no thought process. It was self-defense.”

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The attacking mountain lion was 10 feet away when Gorney shot the animal with a 9-millimeter handgun. Gorney’s dogs then went after the mountain lion. He said he wanted to pull the dogs off, “but I wasn’t going anywhere near that lion.”

“I bow-hunt the Badlands and I’ve been hunting the Custer Mine for 31 years and I’ve never seen a cat,” Gorney told the Minot Daily News. “I felt like I was in Africa hunting. The grass perfectly matched it’s coat.”

Gorney reported the incident to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Officials determined it was a female mountain lion that weighed more than 100 pounds.

Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

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Tag: mountain lion

Mountain lion sure knows its way around a camera

Hunter acts fast when charged by mountain lion