OT - Mtn Lion vs Bull Elk

[bsaride]

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... ounter.txt

Elk vs. mountain lion: Amazing photos attract lots of attention
By BRETT FRENCH
Gazette Outdoor Writer

Brad Grein has gotten some amazing mileage out of the photos he took of a mountain lion attacking a full-grown bull elk.

The West Yellowstone resident was driving home on Highway 191 just south of Big Sky near the Covered Wagon Ranch on Feb. 18 when he saw an unusual encounter right alongside the road in the middle of the day.

Here's how Grein described the encounter in his e-mail: "The six-point bull elk was belly deep in snow and struggling. I stopped to observe, and when the elk stood up, I noticed something hanging from his neck. A cougar was attempting a choke hold to suffocate the elk by collapsing his trachea. These photos are just a few of the pictures I took during this five-minute struggle. Finally, the cat gave up on his choke hold and decided to take a look at me. He took a couple steps toward me, and I put my hands into the air and yelled loudly. He hesitated, looked back at the elk that was now meandering south along the highway, and then looked back towards me. I raised my hands and yelled again, he finally retreated up the hill, and the encounter was over. The bull headed south apparently uninjured and feeling very lucky."

Since he e-mailed the photos to a few friends, who then circulated them to their friends, Grein has had calls from newspapers and magazines from Alaska to Florida. His most distant inquiry came from Australia. Field and Stream magazine bought the shots for use in its publication and is planning an educational piece with Grein on mountain lion safety. Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist Kerry Murphy is printing the photos in his book on predators, Grein said.

In all, Grein said he took about 50 photos during the short encounter that was just off the highway.

He sees elk along the route all the time. "I don't even slow down because there are usually so many," he said. But when he saw the big bull elk struggling he thought, "This is strange. It had its front legs splayed and was pushing down."

A wildlife biologist who examined the photos told Grein the full-grown lion probably weighed 160 to 175 pounds, which makes it even more amazing that Grein saw the bull elk "flipping the cat back and forth. That elk was trying to shake him off and couldn't do it. He was running into trees, through brush. The cat was taking a beating."

Grein said the hold the mountain lion had on the bull elk's neck reminded him of television shows he'd seen of African lions trying to bring down prey. "They hold on till they choke them."

But a mane on a full-grown bull elk is thick, apparently too thick for this cat to clamp his jaws through to the elk's trachea.

Grein said that when the cat stepped toward him, he thought the lion saw him as competition for the elk, rather than an easier prey species. Luckily, the mountain lion decided not to pursue Grein and took off.

"The cat realized that was the wrong place," he said.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... ounter.img

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... nter_2.img

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... nter_3.img

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... nter_4.img

[gamekeeper]

Amazing luck seeing that and having a camera to record it!

[brucew44guns]

I guess the sense of wanting to help is just strong enough in me, that I would have preferred to have my new 1886 TD with me, some 405's in the chute, take that cat down. I'd probably have the law out there, confiscating my rifle,, hauling me off to Federal prison for cruelty to animals.