Extremely rare footage shows the cougar, or mountain lion, attempting to gain an edge on several goats perched on a cliff.
An ecotour company that specializes in wolf-sighting expeditions in Yellowstone National Park has shared extremely rare footage showing a cougar stalking mountain goats on a snowy slope.
“Look carefully above the mountain goats to see a cougar stalking them along the mountainside,” Yellowstone Wolf Tracker stated Thursday via Instagram. “Our Winter Wolf Watch was lucky enough to get a rare glimpse of this big cat at work but the mountain goats survived in the end by perching on a tall and narrow cliff, leaving no room for the cougar to attack.”
The accompanying footage is grainy but viewers can see the goats holding positions as the cougar, or mountain lion, ranges back and forth before exiting the frame.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DE50LfgRzcS/
Cougar sightings are rare in Yellowstone, with an estimated population of only 34 to 42 animals residing in the park’s vast northern range. The stealthy cats prefer rugged terrain and prey primarily on mule deer and elk, plus smaller mammals, notably marmots.
Mountain goats reside in the park but are not native to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
“The young whale approached our boat multiple times, likely in a desperate attempt to nurse from our hull.”
The operators of a San Diego whale-watching company on Sunday were greeted by a newborn gray whale that was without its mom and desperately craving milk.
Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, stated via Instagram, “Today was far and away the most heartbreaking day I’ve ever had on the water.”
He added: “The young whale approached our boat multiple times, likely in a desperate attempt to nurse from our hull.”
Biagini’s description of the encounter is included in the video posted below. He was with his girlfriend and business partner Erica Sackrison, who stated in a separate post:
“The silent screams are deafening. A newborn gray whale without its mother. We waited, hoping to spot another whale nearby, but none ever appeared.”
Their posts provide more details and share their feelings of helplessness. But it’s worth noting, for context, that gray whales are presently migrating from Alaska to nursing areas off Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula.
Whale births often occur during the southbound migration, but it’s rare to encounter a baby whale without its momma. Sadly, newborn gray whales cannot feed or defend themselves if they become separated from their mothers.
As Sackrison stated, “Sometimes nature can really break your heart.”
The #Chiefs are no longer stranded at Kansas City International Airport and are en route to Denver for their matchup against the #Broncos.
The Kansas City Chiefs are en route to Colorado for their Week 18 matchup against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, January 5 after inclement weather delayed their flight out West this afternoon.
In a post to Twitter, CBS Sports Lead Reporter Tracy Wolfson indicated that the Chiefs were “stranded” at Kansas City International Airport on Saturday as ice impacted runway operations.
Wolfson’s initial report didn’t indicate how long the delay was expected to last, but a follow-up post confirmed that the Chiefs had been on the tarmac since 1:15 p.m. CST.
At 5:20 p.m. CST, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that the team had taken off, and was en route to Denver.
Just got off zoom with the #Chiefs. Been on the tarmac since 1:15 KC time. They just finished de-icing and are optimistic that they will be able to take off soon.
The Broncos have a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win over Kansas City on Sunday and may have gotten an extra edge for the Week 18 matchup with this latest misfortune endured by the Chiefs.
Stay tuned to see if the lengthy delay impacts the defending Super Bowl champions’ performance tomorrow afternoon.
– Moose are the largest members of the deer family in the park. Adult bulls can weigh nearly 1,000 pounds and stand nearly 8 feet at the shoulders. Female moose are nearly as large.
– Moose that inhabit the park are part of a subspecies that range from British Columbia to southern Colorado (Alces alces shirasi). They’re smaller than other types of moose in North America, and well-adapted for survival in the snow.
– Bull moose typically shed their antlers each winter to conserve energy in harsh weather.
– Fewer than 200 moose inhabit the park. Because they’re largely solitary and prefer to remain concealed, sightings are fairly rare.
– The “moose head” Scott photographed is in the park’s northern range, visible from a Lamar Valley-area rest stop. Below is Scott’s closeup image.
“Moose head” growing from rock in park’s northern range. Photo: Douglas Scott
Newborn black bear struggles to cross creek, but triumphs in the end. Grizzly bear cubs facing similar obstacle also are featured.
Your National Parks on Tuesday shared footage showing a newborn black bear attempting to cross a creek, perhaps for the first time.
The footage, posted below, is titled, “Baby bear vs. creek.” It shows the tiny cub pausing before a riffle, then leaping for a boulder opposite the creek but falling just short.
After a brief struggle in swift water, the bear climbs onto the opposite shore and scampers off, presumably to catch up with mom.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DEPsG4qxl97/
The footage is reminiscent of a scene I witnessed in Yellowstone National Park in 2023, involving two first-year grizzly bear cubs navigating a narrow creek while trying to keep up with momma bear.
That footage is posted below and, as viewers can see, both cubs land in the water during their tiny leaps, but quickly cross and take up positions behind mom.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Csm-2UBgVC1/
To be sure, keeping up with a momma bear is often difficult. But overcoming obstacles like rushing creeks builds strength and confidence.
As Your National Parks stated: “Bear cubs learn new skills through a combination of instinct, observation, and play.”
An angler in Mozambique was fighting a trevally when a large shark ate the trevally, only to find itself about to become prey.
A fishing-themed Instagram page on Sunday posted a “viral alert” image showing an angler posing with the head of a large shark and asked followers: “What did this?”
A little research reveals that the image was captured off Mozambique, in southeast Africa, in 2022.
Back then the charter company Fish Bazaruto described the chain of events, via Instagram, that explains the image: “On a recent session we hooked into a Yellowspotted Trevally that was taken by this shark, which was eventually taxed by an even bigger one.”
Footage shows the mysterious killer whales patrolling a submarine canyon off Monterey, Ca. “There were fins everywhere we looked.”
Researchers out of Monterey, Ca., on Thursday enjoyed a rare encounter with mysterious killer whales known to travel in massive pods and prey on deepwater sharks.
“There were fins everywhere we looked on the horizon,” Capt. Evan Brodsky, of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, told ForTheWin Outdoors. “They were spread out for miles.” (Video posted below.)
It was the first known encounter involving a large pod of “offshore” killer whales, or orcas, in Monterey Bay since November 2021.
Boaters in the region are far more likely to encounter “transient” orcas, which prey on other marine mammals, including gray whales.
Offshore killer whales, as their ecotype association implies, typically range far from shore between Southern California and Alaska. Brodsky’s footage shows them in sub-groups over a submarine canyon as close as six miles from shore.
He was with Tomoko Shimotomai and Colleen Talty of the California Killer Whale Project, and photographer Daniel Bianchetta. They were traveling west aboard a 20-foot inflatable boat when they spotted dorsal fins sprouting from the surface.
“We just kept moving west from group to group for another 12 miles, so at my furthest point we were 18 miles out,” Brodsky said, adding the entire pod included more than 60 orcas.
Nancy Black, co-founder of the California Killer Whale Project, said offshore killer whale sightings, while rare, are more likely to occur during the winter. Pod sizes off California typically number 25 to 40 individuals, but they can be much larger.
Offshore killer whales prey largely on sharks, including deepwater sleeper sharks, which boast large and fatty livers. But the orcas also prey on fish, such as Pacific halibut and salmon.
Brodsky said his group did not witness feeding, but added: “There were a lot of birds around, and a very strong fishy, oily smell. Some of the other vessels in the area reported seeing fish scales in the water.”
He said that observing the offshore killer whales for the first time “was like winning the gold medal at the Olympics.”
Footage showing tiger shark’s dramatic turtle hunt is shared by Florida travel company as a warning, but it was not captured off Florida.
Florida Keys Travel this week shared dramatic footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle to the beach as something to ponder the “next time you think about visiting the Florida Keys.”
The company added: “The wild beauty of the ocean always keeps you on your toes in paradise.”
While tiger sharks can be encountered off Florida, the footage was captured last January off Western Australia. Photographer Ruth Gaw told FTW Outdoors that the shark measured 8 feet and that the hunt was unsuccessful.
“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw said. “A large stingray also got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”
Tiger sharks, which can measure to about 18 feet, are found in tropical and temperate waters around the world.
From the Florida Museum: “Tiger sharks are second only to the white shark in terms of the number of reported attacks on humans.
“Tiger sharks are often curious and unaggressive when encountered yet are one of the three species most commonly implicated in shark attacks and fatalities and should be treated with extreme caution and a great deal of respect.”
A series of breaches off Newport Beach shows rope winding through whale’s mouth and tightly around its pectoral fin.
On December 12 we featured images showing an entangled humpback whale revealing the extent of its troubles with a spectacular series of breaches off Newport Beach, Ca.
On Wednesday the photographer, Mark Girardeau, published the accompanying footage. It shows the whale trying desperately to free itself from rope that wound through its mouth and tightly around its right pectoral fin, threatening to amputate the appendage.
Girardeau began his description: “The impact of humans on this planet is all too apparent, most of it goes unnoticed or we simply turn our backs to it. We eat from the ocean while destroying the animals in it, this is just one of so many instances just here in Southern California.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDvg0uyy4VR/
Rescue teams were hoping for a chance to free the whale, but a safe opportunity did not present itself and the whale is now presumably still entangled while migrating to Mexico for the winter.
However, as Girardeau pointed out, there are no crab or lobster traps attached to the rope, so the whale is not dragging dead weight and there’s a chance the rope can be worked free.
The whale is known to science, cataloged by Happy Whale as HW-MN0503323. It has been documented five times since 2023 between Morro Bay and San Diego.
During the summer bears roamed the Yellowstone landscape, but weren’t always easy to see. Image will test your spotting skills.
*Editor’s note: A version of this post was published by ForTheWin earlier this year.
Bears in Yellowstone National Park are hibernating, but during the summer they were spread across the landscape and often visible from roads and trails.
But they weren’t always easy to see, and one Montana-based hiking guide used an image he captured from above the Lamar River to test his social-media followers’ spotting skills.
“I’ve been told my more recent ‘Find the Animal Friday’ posts have been way too easy,” Douglas Scott stated via X. “This one is a little more challenging.”
Can you spot the black bear? Photo: Douglas Scott
Scott allowed the use of his image for this post, so we’re also challenging readers: Can you spot the black bear in the images posted above? (Answer below.)
Hint: It’s a difficult quiz and there are several shadows that might be mistaken for the bear.
Scott, who runs The Outdoor Society, told me that he captured the image June 21 “on a perfectly clear day” in the park’s northern range.
“It was definitely a fun spot as my client was amazed I saw it so easily from so far away,” Scott recalled.
His X followers offered several guesses but in the hours after his post only one had pinpointed the bear’s location.
When I guessed, Scott informed me that I had found “the shadow of a tree.”
Another guess was met with the reply: “Unfortunately, you are incorrect. You most definitely found a non-animal shadow though!”
Yellowstone is remarkable in that visitors often see bears up close or in the distance, especially if they’re patient and use binoculars or spotting scopes.
They might also capture a landscape image and later realize that a critter is visible in the image.
In 2023, for example, I was watching bears on one side of a highway and turned to snap an image of a coyote in transit on the other side of the highway.
When I got back to my hotel room and began to inspect my images, I discovered that a smaller animal was visible, paying close attention to the coyote.
As for the black bear photographed by Scott, it’s much easier to spot in a zoomed-in version posted immediately below.
Zoomed-in version shows black bear’s location. Photo: Douglas Scott
Immediately below is an image with the bear pinpointed with an arrow.
Black bear location. Photo: Douglas Scott
As for Yellowstone bears, they’ll begin to emerge from hibernation as early as late March.
