In a breathtaking display of natural behavior, an Orange County resident has captured an incredible video featuring a mountain lion mother and her playful young cub.
The heartwarming footage captured in the Santa Ana Mountains near San Juan Capistrano offers a rare glimpse into the lives of these elusive predators, captivating wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers alike.
The video is just one of many shared on Instagram under the account "oc_wildlife."
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Robert Dlugos, the man behind the camera, has spent the past three years diligently documenting the movements of mountain lions and other local wildlife across the Santa Ana mountain range. With 25 strategically placed cameras, Dlugos has managed to capture approximately 200 videos each year, with around 50 of them recorded during daylight hours.
He posts this rare footage online, showcasing his love for the cats and hoping to bring awareness to the wildlife of the region.
"People see these 250-pound cats playing with each other, and they think of their own cats at home," Dlugos said.
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"I have to travel miles into the mountains. There's a lot of hiking, bushwhacking and boulder scrambling required to check a lot of these cameras. I'm more scared of the poison oak, ticks and rattlesnakes than I am about running into a lion," Dlugos added, emphasizing the difficult work involved in sharing these videos.
"Given the fact that OC mountain lions occupy areas of dense concentrations of humans, we don’t receive as many reports of mountain lion incidents as you might think. These urban mountain lions remain secretive and avoid humans most of the time," said Rebecca Barboza, a wildlife biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Over the last five years, the CDFW has received 109 reports of mountain lion sightings in Orange County.
Dlugos' videos reveal valuable insights into the behaviors of mountain lions in the area. Based on his footage, Dlugos believes there are a few male lions and approximately seven or eight females that call the Santa Ana Mountains home. These majestic cats share the same territories and often follow similar paths and routes through the mountains.
"Wherever the deer go, the lions go," Dlugos explained. "Last year, when we didn't get much rain, there were a lot of deer near certain remote canyons with still some water. With more rain this year, the deer have shifted to other areas with more vegetation, and the mountain lions follow them."
Many of the videos posted onto his account show mountain lions with tracking collars. These radio collars are a part of a UC Davis study attempting to understand lion movement patterns and behaviors across Orange County in order to understand how human development impacts these animals.
The Santa Ana Mountains, which stretch across Orange County, serve as a home to a limited population of mountain lions. However, Dr. Winston Vickers, who directs the UC Davis study, said that encroachment of urban development poses significant challenges to these creatures as they navigate their natural territories.
"By tracking collared mountain lions, researchers can gather valuable data on their movement patterns, providing insights into how these animals adapt to urbanized landscapes," Barboza added. "The information collected from these collars offers a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious lives of these magnificent big cats."
