Cougar kill and coyotes 3/21/10 update

[Idabooner]

Last night after dark a coyote straight across on the hill was barking funny, since the wolves have moved in I don’t hear the coyotes much and it was a different bark than normal so I listened, this morning I learned what his problem was.
First sun this morning I checked the hill, no deer in sight on this end, must be the wolves are around. After 15 minutes with the scope I picked up on a dog two miles north coming this way, soon there was 4 of them and they were slipping up on 7 deer that were feeding just over a raise and didn’t know they were about to be attack.  By this time I had decided these were coyotes, they got close to the deer and made a run at them, the deer ran a little then turned the attack on the coyotes, this went back and forth 3-4 times then a 5th coyotes joined in, he had just been sitting way back.  The dogs didn’t like him so they chased him around up and down the hill side forgetting the deer, this went on for several minutes before they accepted him.  The 5 kept coming closer until they were straight across from me where they circled something in the tall sage, they kept diving in at it and jumping back.  One dove in and a cougar  come back on his tail, the cat went right back into the bush, the coyotes worked on him for awhile trying to get at his kill, I only seen him move a couple times in the bushes. They finally gave up and drifted back towards where they had come from.

My legs won’t take me there anymore, so I thought about calling Boneaddict but he’s 4 hours away and at a ball game with his girls.  So I called for Mountainman1 with his camera, he was not available so after a while Wolfbait showed up with a good camera, I showed him the bushes the cat was in, in the mean time the coyotes had come back and tried again so we knew the cat was still there.
Wolfbait took out to see if he could get some pictures, Mountainman showed up so they slipped in on the cat and got some good pictures up real close.  The cougar was laying on a deer kill and had time to bury it all except the head.  I was watching these guys with the scope to see which one the cat chose, they were smart enough to split apart, the cat bailed the other way when they were less than 100 feet from it.

That makes 4 cougar, 4 wolves and 5 coyotes in two days that I’ve watched from the window, anybody wondering where the deer went?

Sorry, pictures later if I can get the computer to work.

Next(this) morning at first light three wolves were on the carcass, They had pulled it 50 feet and were taking turns on it while fighting off the eagles and ravens, one got a big hunk and carried it a little ways so the next one could have his turn. The last one was tossing the carcass around getting his chunk (not much left) when all three had a big chunk, straight up over the hill they went carring their load, it took them maybe 2 minutes to get over the top, it would take a good athlete a least 1/2 hour.  In a half hour the eagles had got what was left and went away so the ravens and magpies are all over the area looking for scraps. It seems like the birds and coyotes and eating well this spring.

Still working on the pictures.

[hogsniper]

That is incredible!   Cant wait to see the pics!

[Pathfinder101]

 

[denali]

Wow     cool story, maybe the deer are predator pooo now ? keep us posted idaboooner  

[Huntbear]

Wow, that would be cool to see, however the deer must be suffering terribly right now.

[carpsniperg2]

man i want to see those pics how cool, but yes it is bad and i hate the cougar pop and the wolves to boot but would have been cool to see.

[mulehunter]

    I cant wait to come up!  Trust me  I am jealous of ya Idabooner!      Gotta finish my big project for my wife. She BEGGED me for long time so I must finish it for her and Daugther.    Cant wait...

Pic Pic!!!

Mulehunter 

[waoutdoorsman]

What an amazing sight to see!

[bowhunterforever]

That is incredible!   Cant wait to see the pics!

[coop2424]

That is just insane...  Keep an eye out the window I really enjoy reading what you see even though it is not a good sign for the deer...

[boneaddict]

SON OF A  GUN!    Everyday is like a birthday for you up there.   

[PacificNWhunter]

WOW...it's like the national geographic right outside your window! We need to get you a camera! Thanks for sharing with us Idabooner, love reading your posts. Sure beats what I have to stare at outside my window.

[MuleySniper]

That is crazy. They say a cougar kills a deer a week but those numbers are even higher since yotes are claiming the cougar kills.  Thus making the cougar to need to kill another deer. Its amazing how many more cougar sightings there have been in just the last couple years.
MS

[boneaddict]

Not sure who took these, whether it was mountianman or wolfbait, but here they are....

[boneaddict]