Mountain Lions eating Mountain Lions?!!

L

LionHo

New member
Have to say I was skeptical of the account when I initially heard of it. First, two of my neighbors described to me how they found this scene:

http://www.geocities.com/cfmpm@sbcglobal.net/TanbarkNewsletter1.html?1096999681383

[I'd rather appreciate it that y'all don't sign their condo association guest register, and don't point them to this discussion thread]

Cat was said to have had deep puncture wounds in the face and skull, fitting pattern of another lion's fangs. Told me it'd been dragged around by something, probably another lion.

Might mention, I was pi**ed because I obtained a key to their gate last year precisely because I am trying to photo a ML here, and this feller pictured didn't tell me until sometime long after the fact. I thought maybe he'd shot it (w/o a CA Depredation Permit, it'd been illegal to do so), he tends to stretch a point from time to time also. But simultaneously the second account of this was from a retired school teacher, good man and his wife, both about 65 years old. They've been coming up here to their vacation cabin they built by hand and have been adding onto since '63.

Dead lion occurred not but 3 miles from where I live, on a private inholding within the national forest. I've been tracking and patterning a large male cat for several years in this canyon, one I believe to go 200#. Thought dead cat might be the big male cat. Hadn't seen this photo until today.

Third neighbor later confirmed the story, that something had indeed dragged the carcass 75 yards or so the next day after it was discovered, and partially covered it.

This guy is 25+ years with CA Dept of Forestry, straight shooter. I have every reason to believe him when he tells me it wasn't shot. I wasn't pi**ed any longer but was still concerned it was my big cat, with all those years of patterning it and pursuing it down the tubes.

Happily, independent report that a fourth neighbor recently sighted the 200# tom, looking as big and bad as ever. I've seen recent large pawprints, myself.

I'd be interested in what else this posted pix of the dead cat suggests to you guys, if not eaten by the bigger cat that supposedly killed and dragged it. Anyone else ever heard of not just a case of ML infanticide or fratricide, but of an actual instance of feline cannibalism?

LionHo
 
Lionho,
Amazing as it may sound, a buddy of mine related a story this past winter of his brother driving along their ranch road in Idaho. He's a lion hunter and was looking for tracks in the snow. Right in front of him a cat crossed the road so he let the dogs out and the chase was on. Wasn't long till he had a large male treed. After shooting the cat, he back tracked it to find out what it was doing in the ravine along the road. He found another cat dead in the ravine! He immediately called the game warden because they would never believe he didn't kill both cats. When the warden arrived they pieced together the seen. The cats had been fighting for sometime and covered quite a bit of ground, coming down the mountain, crossing the road and ending up the ravine beside the road. Blood and fur were everywhere. Obviously, this isn't an isolated incident. The large males tend to not tolerate other males much at all. The victor had consumed some of the other cat too.
 
Ivan, at least some cats will undoubtedly indulge in cannibalism. It is fairly common knowledge that domestic tom cats will kill, and often eat kittens. Cougars will do the same. Can’t say that I’ve heard of a cougar eating another fully grown one. This might be a good question to ask our friend in Placerville. I’ll forward this thread to another friend who might have some experience along these lines.
 
Mike, Thats interesting because I had a houndsman tell me a story about running a big tom and coming upon blood and hair scattered all over the snow. He thought for sure one of his dogs had been killed when he found a dead medium sized male lion at the scene. The dogs took off again and in a matter of less than 100 yards treed another bigger and very tired male lion. It was completely exhausted from killing the other male and didn't go far. The winner was tore up pretty bad and had lost an eye by the looks of it. He killed the treed lion and tagged it, and had his son who was with him tag the smaller lion and had them both mounted lifesize in a fighting postion with each other on a rocky outcropping. It was a very impressive piece of taxidermy work and would fill most people's living room.

I have a buddy who found a lion skull with two puncture wounds in the base. It sure looks like where another lions fangs penetrated the skull. He cleaned it up and still has it. Kinda cool.
 
Hi, I have a friend who shot a couger one afternoon but could not locate it that day. When he returned the next morning to resume the search he found it. The cat was partialy consumed with distinctive markings. There were many fresh couger tracks all around.
 
Lions kill other lions. Large male lions EAT other lions. Lions eat bobcats. Bobcats kill other bobcats. Bobcats eat bobcats. Bobcats eat housecats. Housecats kill other housecats. Housecat eat housecats. I have seen this for 30 years. If you want to catch a lion,bobcat, or a house cat, one of the finest baits is ground up CAT.
FWIW
Steve
 
It is often a territorial issue between males. many female cats territories will over lap but very rarely do males'. when one male intrudes...one usually dies. And heh...i guess nothing like a good meal after a scuffle. If you are really intrested in this contact Dr. Paul Beier at Northern Arizona University. He is a leading authority on lions in the west and has years of research complied from CA. (928-523-9001) If anything, he can lead you to some good reference material.
 


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