More Cats! Continued (4)

Gorgeous portrait of a fully engaged cat, aware of the photographer, not hostile, only curious.

More Cats! Continued (3)

I think this image shows how really slim wild cats are ... if you've seen a lot of zoo images, captive cats, no matter what the species, all seem to be overweight with massive bellies.

More Cats! Continued ...

What is so interesting about those Chan Chich signs?

More Cats!

Last week, the morning of January 26 to be exact, two members of the Chan Chich staff had an amazing experience. Guide Emil was out on the trails and encountered a family of pumas -- 2 youngsters with mom. He called Lodge manager Jason who rushed out with his camera ... and captured some amazing shots.

Here the 2 youngsters are investigating the Bajo and Lodge trail signs close to Chan Chich. Note the dappled spot pattern showing they haven't quite grown out of their juvenile pelage. They were in no hurry to leave as subsequent images will show ...

Prowling Puma

Here's a nice sequence of the same puma (Puma concolor) along Gallon Jug Estate's Punta de Cacao road a few weeks ago. While some animals show awareness of the remote camera, this animals doesn't even give it a passing glance. This is a nice healthy puma, appears to be a male and likely one that has been photographed before. But it is just impossible to say for sure since it has no visible distinguishing characteristics to match against previous photos.

Puma by the frog pond

We've had some really hot weather lately here in Gallon Jug Estate. The data on this image shows it is 77 degrees (F) on a full moon night, and this puma is taking advantage of it. He or she is out and about, passing by the seasonal frog pond (see 5/28/2010 post). Not much detail can be seen on this individual, other than it appears sleek and healthy.

A Belizean "Bobcat"

In all my years of camera trapping, I have never seen anything like this: a Belizean "bobcat!" Of course we don't really have bobcats in Belize, but you can hardly blame me for doing a double take when I examined these photos. The image above is actually (a crop of) one of three frames taken of a male puma (Puma concolor) missing the majority of his tail. What happened to the poor guy???

We'll never know, but I imagine he is somewhat handicapped. Pumas are swift runners that chase down their prey -- the long tail acts as a sort of rudder to balance them on tight turns. That said, this fellow looks as though he is in pretty good shape and actually appears to have a full belly.

This image was taken on the 7 April about 3PM on the Punta de Cacao Road, about 10 km from the Gallon Jug Farm. Recalling earlier comments about it being hard to distinguish pumas from one another, this fellow certainly stands alone!

Pumas or jaguars?

So do we have more pumas or jaguars here at Gallon Jug/Chan Chich? This is a question I've been asking myself recently. Pumas seem to be the most frequently photographed cat now, even more so than ocelots. And they seem to be photographed more frequently in low light situations that trigger the infra-red mode.

It would be easier to make a statement about puma numbers if individuals could be distinguished with any confidence, the way spotted cats can. My gut feeling is that the puma population has exploded, along with the white-tailed deer population in Gallon Jug near the farm.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) thrive in the edge areas, between the farm and the forest. Pumas specialize in hunting deer while jaguars are more specialized for peccary. White-tailed deer are visible any time of day or night in Gallon Jug and often along the road edges at Chan Chich. And as many readers can attest, they've become pests in many places in north America, with no pumas or other predators to reduce their numbers.

Puma with botfly?

Finally, an image from MY camera, or at least the one Ben has loaned me. This is one (of three) images of a male puma, exiting the Horse Trail (so called because it is a popular riding route) near Gallon Jug farm. In the subsequent images, the puma takes a hard left and evidently continues on the Hillbank road.

When I get a new image, I scan it carefully to see what can be learned about the animal. In this case we have an adult male who looks, overall, to be in good condition. By zooming in, I can see that his left ear has a sore spot with some hair worn away -- I'm guessing it is likely a a botfly larva (Dermatobia hominis, aka "beefworm" in Belize). Pumas seem more prone to botfly infestation than jaguars. On the other hand, a botfly bump is probably more visible on the plain coat of the puma than a spotted cat.

Now you are wondering about botflies. If you have a strong stomach, check out details of its life history -- and extraction -- in this video.

Prepare to be grossed out!