This is topic Cat Poop in forum Predator forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.
To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://www.huntmastersbbs.com/cgi-bin/cgi-ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000580
Posted by Tim Behle (Member # 209) on September 09, 2005, 07:59 PM:
Does anyone have a picture of a Mountain lion turd that they can post?
Do they normally bury it, or leave it out in the open?
Posted by Steve Craig (Member # 12) on September 09, 2005, 09:06 PM:
I think I have a few pics of turds for you Tim. I 'll look around and e-mail one ot two to you. I did lose alot of pics when my puter crashed a while back.
Most of the time a lion will leave their crap exposed due to the way a cat marks its territory. Crap is the main way they know when each other is around. Number 1 on the list for each cat keeping their distance from each other when one moves throught the home range of the other.
Number 2 is scratches, and scratches with urine, and urine spray marks.
Covered crap is the sign left by a transient lion moving through the country and home range of another lion. Both female and male use these markers for keeping their distance from each other. Just the opposite of what most believe. Most would be hunters believe they use toilets and scratches to attrack, but this is not the case. It is used to basically keep an eye on each other and to AVOID each other. But rest assured, they are checked by EVERY cat that comes by as well as the depositer of said turds on a very regualr basis. This is why toilets and scratches are very important to calling lions.
It is the same for bobcats too. A cat is a cat, is a cat. Some are just bigger than others.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on September 09, 2005, 09:51 PM:
Thanks a lot, Steve. I knew it was both exposed and buried, but darned if I knew why? I firmly believe a cat is a cat.
Good hunting. LB
PS I saw a coyote turd last year, I should have kept it, looked like a keilbasa.
Posted by Tim Behle (Member # 209) on September 10, 2005, 09:58 AM:
Will cats eat juniper and manzanita, or are they strictly meat eaters?
I found a turd last weekend, that was mostly meat and fur, but it had some berries mixed in. It looked more like a world record coyote turd. It's no wonder he left it laying in the middle of the road, I'd have been proud of that one too!
Posted by Lonny (Member # 19) on September 10, 2005, 12:21 PM:
Tim, I don't have any cat crap pics to share. I know that the lion crap I have seen has always been twisted and loaded with hair(usually deer hair) with some chunks of bone thrown in. I have never noticed any berries or seeds in lion droppings but most of the time it's winter when I have looked at any crap and by then all berries and fruit are long gone.
Posted by Lonny (Member # 19) on September 10, 2005, 02:52 PM:
Just a few weeks ago a starving, skinny lion was killed hanging around a campground near here. It had killed a dog and had attacked a couple of others. The cat showed no fear of humans. At this time of the year the berries and fruit trees are at their fullest and this cat was basically starving to death. The lions stomach was empty and it only weighed 50 lbs. It was a young cat though. I don't think lions around here at least forage on anything other than meat.
Posted by Curt2u (Member # 74) on September 10, 2005, 03:38 PM:
I don't have any pics of crap either but like Lonny I haven't seen berries mixed in the scat I've come across.
Question for Steve. I agree that a lot of the time lions will make an effort too stay out of each others way. Why is it that other times they make an equal effort at having contact with other lions?
Over the years we have called several lions using a lion recording that sounds fairly aggressive in nature. Sometimes the responding lion was quite eager to get to the stand, others were stealthy coming in. Almost all these instances were outside the typical breeding season. First I wrote it off as a territorial response and assumed it was a resident lion eager to defend it's territory. Sometimes it would be a older mature lion, sometimes younger. No real definable pattern to the response. One thing is for sure though. Young or old, in all cases they had to know that contact with another lion was going to be likely. Do you think they are in the mood for fight? Curious? Breeding outside what is considered the typical breeding season?
Last season I even had a bobcat come in after using the same aggressive lion vocalizations for 30 minutes. That was unexpected for obvious reasons. Why the heck would a bobcat risk tangling with a lion?
I guess it could be that the recording I have doesn't sound nearly as intimidating to other cats as I think it sounds. lol!
Good hunting
[ September 10, 2005, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: Curt2u ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on September 10, 2005, 04:27 PM:
Curiosity, Curt. You know that's one of the things that makes cats tick. Interesting thought, though. I wonder if a good size male bobcat would be a pushover for a lion? You know, face to face, no ambush. Better yet, small lion, large bobcat; would that be an even match?
You know how a coyote will make every effort to kill any fox in it's territory, and I suppose that applies to wolves and coyotes, as well? I wonder if lions make an effort to kill bobcat they happen to run into? That would give them little time for pursuit of deer, I should think? Since bobcat outnumber lions by a factor of at least (what?) ten to one?
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Steve Craig (Member # 12) on September 10, 2005, 07:03 PM:
Tim,
You just dont find vegetable matter in cat poop.
If there is seeds, then it is coyote.
Curt,
Hard to know for sure,lions can and do breed at any time of the year. Feb-Mar is just the accepted breeding times.
In my experience, ALL responses are territorial. Curiosity,mating,etc are a part of that territorial response.
Cats try to avoid each other on a regular basis. but they do interact too. Mothers with older kittens,males trying to kill those kittens,males not tolerating other males in their home range etc.And of course when they breed.
The lion vocalization you use, will determine the type of response you will get. What may sound like an aggressive sound, may not be. Also, the lion that comes in to the call will as well.
Lions kill other lions. Lions kill bobcats and they kill alot of them. It is my belief they will literally track them down to kill one. I have found many lion kills that were bobcat hair,maybe a foot, and a jaw bone or two. Cat meat is one of the finest baits you can get for a lion or a bobcat.
Posted by Gerald Stewart (Member # 162) on September 10, 2005, 07:23 PM:
Curt, I have had two customers relate that they have had Lions show up to the playing of our Bobcat in Heat Tape. I thought that was odd, but now I know why, thanks to Steve.
Speaking of crap....I used a lengthy description of the differences in animal crap to clear an entire table of people at a Christmas social several years ago. All but one guy got up and left. I think he was a Bowhunter. Come to think of it, we have never been invited back.....you think....?
Posted by Curt2u (Member # 74) on September 11, 2005, 09:44 AM:
Leonard, now that's something I would pay to see. Small lion, large bobcat, could be quite entertaining.
Steve, good info. That makes sense to me. I have heard Lions like to kill bobcats, other lions and coyotes too. I guess they are like people or any other predator. What makes one cat run would call another.
Gerald, that is something I hadn't thought about doing. Using the bobcat recording to attract lions could be effective I'll bet.
We're not supposed to talk about crap at the Christmas dinner table?? Maybe that's why attendance has dwindled down to just the wife and kids. lol! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Take care, Curt
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on September 11, 2005, 09:53 AM:
I can just see Steve Craig rigging up a bobcat decoy to attract lions.
UBB.classicTM
6.3.0