I am exceedingly fortunate to work with a team of people who know a lot more about mountain lions than I do, especially, and most importantly, how to track them. I am learning, and getting much better, but without their insight and help over the last few years, my website gallery of mountain lions would instead be a gallery of rocks.
The mountain lion (Puma concolor), occurs over much of the Americas. They are fascinating and gorgeous apex feline predators, however are incredibly elusive and shy. Sightings (even for those that live in urban environments) are rare. It is a huge thrill to capture an image of one of these magnificent animals on my camera, and I am perfectly fine with the fact that I have never seen one in the wild. Never. But they have definitely seen me....
This work would not be possible without the tracking expertise of my dear friend and colleague, Johanna Turner. If there are lions in the area, she will find their tracks and signs. You may well have seen her on TV, as she is the Los Angeles media folks' goto person whenever there is a lion sighting in or around LA. She has a wonderful website at www.cougarmagic.com and her FB page is 'Cougarmagic'. She has been studying and camera trapping mountain lions for over 10 years, and her determination, dedication and skill cannot be overstated. She started out being an 'ok' photographer; now she is extraordinary. I may have had a little to do with that, but not much.
You can peruse a large gallery of my mountain lion images - all captured using remote camera traps here: