Recent trail-cam footage showing a mountain lion hunting a coyote is reminiscent of a similar but more dramatic scene captured last fall.
On Monday we featured trail-cam footage showing a mountain lion’s successful nighttime hunt in the Southern California wilderness.
The mountain lion, or cougar, was shown following a coyote past the camera and returning minutes later with its kill. The footage revealed a predator-prey interaction that plays out routinely on trails when most people are in their beds.
It’s also reminiscent of a similar but more dramatic scene also captured via trail-cam in eastern Orange County. (See video below.)
In Nathalie Orozco’s footage, captured last fall, the coyote is shown trotting down a trail and a stealthy mountain lion sensing opportunity. The ambush occurs in the darkness beyond the camera’s infrared light, but audio reveals the likely result.
“Just before entering the frame, the mountain lion noticed the coyote and went into action to secure his next meal. Notice how the mountain lion pounces quietly rather than sprinting.”
A scouting mission the next day turned up coyote fur but no carcass. Girardeau, who theorized that the cougar had hauled its kill off-trail, commented:
“Our guess is that the mountain lion was successful based on other nearby cameras which showed him hanging out in the area for the entire night afterwards.”
A trail camera in Southern California has captured surreal footage showing a mountain lion following a coyote into the darkness and returning minutes later with dinner.
A trail camera in Southern California has captured surreal footage showing a mountain lion pursuing a coyote into the darkness and returning minutes later with the coyote in its jaws.
Jason Andes, who owns the camera, states in the accompanying footage that the coyote walked past the camera at 10:15 p.m. on a recent night in eastern Orange County.
The mountain lion, or cougar, passed in the same direction 12 minutes later. It then passed the camera in the opposite direction 20 minutes later with a freshly killed coyote.
If there were cries by the coyote, they are not heard in the footage.
Andes wrote on YouTube:
“This Coyote met his fate after a Mountain lion was close behind. Mountain lions kill and eat Coyotes on a pretty regular basis.
“Mule Deer are their main prey, but Coyotes are not far behind. This is nature and a great look at how prey and predator have interactions.”
The footage was captured in Black Star Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains.
The canyon is popular among hikers and mountain bikers, but at night its trails are utilized by nocturnal predators and prey.
The music? I liked it. But if this was designed as a form of sportswashing, somebody forgot to order mops.
Ben Hogan was the first to specifically prepare for the Masters Tournament. He’d hunker down in South Florida for a month and hone his game at Seminole Golf Club.
A generation later, Jack Nicklaus invented the practice of building a tournament schedule that best prepared him for each of the four majors. Tiger Woods read his book.
Fans and observers — at least the true lovers of major championship golf — often do their own kind of prep in the days leading up to Augusta.
They scan the entry list, compare with recent results, and ready themselves to draft the best roster possible for the office pool.
Or, lacking a financial interest, they dive back into a book or two of Masters history, reminding themselves of what Gene Sarazen did and what Roberto De Vicenzo didn’t do.
Either strategically (the gambler) or romantically (most others), the serious fan and onlooker prepares in some fashion.
This guy, though not necessarily for any type of Masters run-up, went to a LIV Golf tournament. Live and let LIV, they say.
Ian Poulter of the Majesticks shakes hands on his way to the seventh tee during the first round of a LIV Golf event at Orange County National. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
LIV in Orlando
Last weekend, the LIV folks were in Orlando to debut their Friday-through-Sunday brand of golf at Orange County National. The weather was nice and, on paper, it was just an hour away. On paper an hour, on the asphalt of today’s I-4 through Central Florida, another story. And once there, public parking was in a field of bush-hogged roots, soft sand and an occasional cactus plant.
“Don’t let the logistical failings of the Ops Team cloud your judgment of the day ahead,” became a quiet rallying cry modern customers reluctantly use now and then.
Not your ideal parking situation.
Once through the gates — hell, even before you’re through the gates — differences between this and the entire history of tournament golf begin sounding off. The music isn’t overly loud, but plenty loud, and in keeping with the theme of a sports-world disruptor, it comes from that clubby, sometimes-techno, in-your-face catalog of sound designed to get the blood flowing.
It does, by the way.
An interactive fan village near the clubhouse, along with those omnipresent food trucks, shaded sitting areas, and nearby practice areas filled with competitors, keep everyone occupied in the hour or two leading to the 1:15 p.m. shotgun start.
Yes, shotgun start.
Prior to LIV, the shotgun was reserved solely for those summertime fundraisers down at the club. LIV’s creators determined, and maybe rightfully so, golf fans don’t want or need a sunrise-to-sunset event — instead, all 48 LIV golfers are spread about the course, where they begin and end (give or take) their rounds at the same time.
Thankfully, once the shotgun blasts (it sounds very similar to an air horn, by the way), the wall-to-wall music is turned down.
Down, not off.
As the signs remind you, it’s “Golf, but louder.” As you walk the course, speakers show up randomly, and they’re always on. Once play begins, the music takes on a gentler but still upbeat vibe, always loud enough to hear, regardless of what corner of the property you may find, but not loud enough to disrupt or aggravate someone facing a 4-foot downhiller.
Gotta say, I like it. A few hours in, a technical gremlin interfered and the music stopped for a few seconds. That felt odd, actually, but the soft blanket of sound quickly returned and was welcomed — or maybe it’s just my white-noise infatuation.
Captain Phil Mickelson of Hyflyers GC plays his shot from the sixth tee during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational – Orlando at The Orange County National on March 31, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson enjoying a LIVing wage
Maybe the next generation of golf fans will buy into something resembling what LIV is selling — and this year, they appear to be aiming the hard sell on their concept of 12 four-man teams.
And surely some of today’s generation are either into it or maybe just accepting of it as an occasional alternative — there were plenty of team shirts and caps going across the merchandise counter, and certainly, all of the buyers can’t be considering them future collectors’ items.
Eventually, it should go without saying, it has to be about the golf, assuming there’s a future to this. And that’s where this guy’s senses unravel.
Someone mid-afternoon mentioned how the players not only seemed more relaxed than standard PGA Tour fare (nearly all were in shorts, by the way) but also less grim, less weighed down by golf’s ancient pressures. Happier, you could say.
Well, yeah. The LIV tournament norm is a $25 million total purse, with $4 million to the winner. Frankly, that can’t be from where all the positive mojo arises. Nope, the relaxed vibe springs from way south on the leaderboard, all the way down at 48th (and last) place, which pays $120,000.
And all you have to do is stay upright through Sunday afternoon, because there’s no 36-hole cut.
Up in high-rent territory, modern stars like Dustin Johnson, eventual winner Brooks Koepka and commissioner Greg Norman’s key field general, Phil Mickelson, had earned enough career leverage to negotiate tens of millions in guaranteed pay before putting a peg into LIV turf.
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And that begs an obvious question. Would you tune in to see the Wallendas defy death if they had a net below the tightrope? What’s in it for the fans and TV viewers, and also, what’s in it for the Wallendas, assuming they’re sporty fellas?
Last summer, Tiger Woods famously and ably spoke for those of us in that camp.
“What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?”
Captain Bryson Dechambeau of Crushers GC plays his shot from the seventh tee during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational – Orlando at The Orange County National on March 31, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Masters, other majors still have LIV golfers, but for how long?
As Masters week builds to Thursday’s start of the 2023 major championship schedule, 18 LIV golfers will be competing at Augusta National. Six of them are former Masters champs and will presumably continue receiving invites as long as they can reasonably compete.
The other 12 are on the clock, just as the vast majority of LIV golfers are on it for the other three majors, where world-ranking points are the biggest component in filling out the field. LIV results, until further notice, don’t earn world-ranking points.
Eventually, still-young golfers like Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith will start missing majors. They will have ensured that future generations of their offspring will be able to afford groceries and keep the lights on, and maybe that’s plenty good enough for them, though it’s not like they’d been languishing in squalor until last summer.
That’s assuming LIV has a shelf life and these PGA Tour expatriates remain there, and here’s where we finally roll around to the whole geo-political issue with this Saudi-financed league.
As mentioned here time and time again, sooner or later, don’t the financiers have to look at each other and wonder what they’re getting for their billions? If this was designed as a form of sportswashing, as many critics insist, somebody forgot to order mops.
But even if you choose to ignore the politics of it all — as so many of us do in various facets of life — you need to enjoy the product if you’re going to devote any amount of allegiance.
It’s a big ol’ world with a whole bunch of varying tastes, and if the benefactors hang in there, maybe LIV will live on into the future, even if it fails this guy’s feel test.
After all, the music ain’t bad.
Ken Willis is a columnist for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, part of the USA Today Network, and has covered the Masters for decades.
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A cougar nicknamed Uno because she has only one good eye was caught on a trail camera recently proving why she’s still a super mom.
A cougar nicknamed Uno because she has only one good eye was caught on a trail camera recently proving why she’s still a super mom.
The nighttime footage, captured by cameras monitored by Nathalie Orozco and Mark Girardeau, shows Uno dragging a deer carcass through the Southern California wilderness with two cubs in tow.
As viewers can see, light from the infrared camera reflects from only one of Uno’s eyes. Biologists believe she’s partially blind in the other eye, perhaps because of an old injury.
But it’s clear that she’s able to fend for herself and her offspring.
On Tuesday, Girardeau shared the footage to his Orange County Outdoors social media pages.
“Uno scored a nice meal!” he exclaimed on Facebook. “Every animal in nature has its role: deer graze the grass and spread seeds while mountain lions keep the deer population under control to prevent overgrazing.
“After bears were extirpated from Orange County, mountain lions are the only animals left to play this vital role as the keystone species that they are.”
Girardeau told FTW Outdoors that he has been monitoring Uno’s habitat with trail cameras since 2019. Biologists from UC Davis put a tracking collar on Uno a year ago. The mountain lion is cataloged as F312.
“This is a decent sized deer as you can see Uno struggling to move it to a safe place before retrieving her kittens to feed with her,” Girardeau continued, adding that Uno’s cubs are about 7 months old.
The father of the cubs is believed to be Toro (M313), who also appears sporadically in trail-cam footage.
Nighttime footage captured via trail-cam shows a mountain lion pursuing a coyote into darkness on a Southern California trail, and audio hints at a successful hunt.
Nighttime footage captured recently via trail-cam shows a mountain lion pursuing a coyote into total darkness on a Southern California trail – and audio hints at a successful hunt.
The eerie scene appeared on a motion-sensor camera placed by photographer Nathalie Orozco.
Her footage begins with a lone coyote trotting rapidly down the trail, and the mountain lion, or cougar, in a cautious pursuit that turns into an apparent ambush after both animals vanish into the blackness.
In the Facebook description Mark Girardeau, who runs Orange County Outdoors, urges viewers to turn the volume up because it reveals how this likely ended – with the coyote crying out while under attack.
Girardeau writes: “The coyote was trotting along as they usually do and unaware of the mountain lion which just happened to be walking along his normal route.
“Just before entering the frame, the mountain lion noticed the coyote and went into action to secure his next meal. Notice how the mountain lion pounces quietly rather than sprinting.”
Girardeau explained that mountain lions are ambush hunters that rely on stealth to capture prey.
“After checking the area, we noticed lots of coyote fur but did not locate a kill so we’re uncertain of the outcome,” the photographer continued, noting that mountain lions often drag kills off-trail. “Our guess is that the mountain lion was successful based on other nearby cameras which showed him hanging out in the area for the entire night afterwards.”
The mountain lion, a young male nicknamed Toro, is scientifically cataloged as M313. Girardeau said Toro might be the father of kittens recently born to Uno, who occasionally appears before Girardeau’s cameras.
The footage was captured on private property in the Orange County Wilderness.
A woman who was stalked by a cougar Friday in Southern California was shaking with fear during a tense confrontation that “felt like an eternity.”
A woman who was stalked by a cougar Friday in Southern California acknowledged shaking with fear during a tense confrontation that “felt like an eternity.”
But Rachel de Vlugt knew better than to run and was thankful to have been with a companion who helped prevent the harrowing situation from escalating.
“Thank God Mark was there because I think I would have taken off running, which is obviously the worst thing you can do,” de Vlugt stated on Facebook after the evening encounter in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon.
De Vlugt and Mark Girardeau were checking motion-sensor cameras on remote trails when an adult female cougar, or mountain lion, charged toward them and paused behind bushes only 20 feet away. (See video below.)
Girardeau’s video shows the cougar eyeing both hikers intently as he yells repeatedly in an attempt to keep the predator at bay: “Get back! Get back, mountain lion!”
In de Vlugt’s video clip, Girardeau predicts that the cougar will follow as they slowly back away. The cat, indeed, continues its close-range vigil.
Cougar named Uno. Photo: Mark Girardeau
De Vlugt acknowledges “shaking” but she and Girardeau maintain their composure, never turning away from the cougar until it retreats after two excruciatingly long minutes.
De Vlugt, a personal trainer, told FTW Outdoors that she has jogged on area trails for years and had never spotted a cougar. “Although I knew it was a possibility, I never expected it to actually happen,” she said.
Of resisting the impulse to run, potentially triggering an attack, she said, “Everyone knows how to tell you how you’re supposed to act in those situations, but nobody knows how difficult it is to execute when you’re actually faced with it.”
Cougar named Uno passes trail-cam. Photo: Mark Girardeau
Mountain lions in California prey largely on mule deer, which they stalk and ambush. Girardeau and de Vlugt spotted several deer minutes before the cougar sighting.
Girardeau, who runs the Orange County Outdoors website and shares trail-cam footage with researchers, initially thought the cougar was a male nicknamed Toro. A researcher informed him, however, that the animal is an older female named Uno.
–Images showing a cougar named Uno are courtesy of Mark Girardeau
A photographer who monitors trail cameras in Southern California mountain lion habitat experienced a dangerously close encounter with one of the predators on Friday.
A photographer who monitors trail cameras in the Southern California wilderness experienced a dangerously close mountain lion encounter on Friday.
Mark Girardeau, who was hiking with Rachel de Vlugt in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon, shared footage of their 5 p.m. encounter via Instagram.
Girardeau told FTW Outdoors that he and de Vlugt had just checked a few cameras when he saw the mountain lion run up a hill and stop to watch them from perhaps 20 feet away.
In the footage the male mountain lion, or cougar, peers intently through bushes and does not flinch as Girardeau repeatedly yells, “Get back!” in an attempt to keep the animal at bay.
As they slowly back away, the cat briefly follows.
Girardeau’s Instagram description reads: “I think there are two things that could have caused this: either he has a kill nearby and he was defending it or he ran up not realizing we were humans since he couldn’t completely see us from down below.
“There were deer in the area that we saw so he probably assumed it was them.”
Mountain lions in Southern California prey largely on mule deer, which they stalk and ambush.
Girardeau wrote: “Mountain lions do not predate on humans and this is why it’s good to hold your ground because any prey item for mountain lions runs away. If you don’t do this, the mountain lion is not going to assume you are prey.”
Girardeau, whose social media feeds contains cougar footage captured by motion-sensor cameras, told FTW Outdoors that about two minutes passed before the cougar stopped following them.
Trey Mullinax held on to win the Korn Ferry Tour’s Orange County National Championship on Sunday. It is his second career Korn Ferry win.
Despite shooting his worst round of the tournament, a 2-under par 69, Trey Mullinax held on to win the Korn Ferry Tour’s Orange County National Championship this weekend at Winter Garden, Florida. It is his second victory on tour, with the first coming back in 2016.
Mullinax, 28, had been cruising through the first three rounds carding 65, 65 and 62 respectively. But a five-birdie, three-bogey effort on Sunday made things interesting, and the former Alabama golfer would finish 23 under par: just one shot clear of the field.
California’s Brandon Wu and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger ended up T-2 at 22 under. Wu, at just 23 years of age, carded a 6-under 65 on the strength of seven birdies and one bogey to move five spots up the leaderboard. Meanwhile, the 31-year old Jaeger held position with a 67 (five birdies, one bogey). The Munich native owns five Korn Ferry Tour victories.
Greyson Sigg of Georgia and Chad Ramey of Mississippi found themselves T-4 at 20 under. The 25-year old Sigg put together an excellent final round (five birdies and an eagle at the 10th for a 7-under 64) to rocket past 15 other golfers. Ramey, 28, bettered his position by eight spots with a 66 (six birdies, one bogey).
The Orange County National Championship was the final event on the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2020 schedule.
