What a Mountain Lion and her cubs do on a Tuesday night and Wednesday morning...

With the Park  still  closed, we're walking in the neighborhood a lot.  On Monday, Andy found a mule deer carcass that looked like it had been buried by a mountain lion.  It was near a house, but after discussing with the neighbor, we learned it was vacant so in the evening we put up 2 trail cameras.  Each morning Andy would fetch the cameras, but the first night, the lion just covered it up a bit better, and we only got two pictures.  Then the second night, she ate a lot but moved the carcass,  and the cameras again only caught a couple pictures. They say 3rd time's a charm and that was so true for us.  Here you can see a partially buried buck, a brave mouse and the momma lion with her two kittens.  You can see that she helps move the carcass (and take off its fur) so the kittens have better access.  You can also see that she takes a pee break in the middle of the night and that the kittens are curious about the camera.  When it is time to go, you can see momma carefully cover the carcass to save it for another day.  Ah, the things that go on when we're asleep... 

Note that all times are one hour later than on the camera (we forgot to change times for daylight savings).  (Click on an image to enlarge).