Thursday afternoon, after a wonderful morning of making Abielskivers with Mary Beth and Eddie, Luke and I decided to go to hike to one of my favorite places, Taggart Lake. The hike usually lasts a good 45-minutes as you slowly stroll along the trail through some scenic and concealed areas of conifer, snags, and open hill tops, until finally landing at the Taggart Lake which gives you a perfect view of the Grand (on a beautiful clear day, of course).
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| Look at that U-Shaped Valley! |
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| Scenic View Overlooking Taggart Lake |
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| On the Medial Moraine Between the Taggart and Bradley Lakes |
To our surprise, well to my surprise, we hiked all the way to the lake in about 30-minutes. Boy, is that a record for me! Usually I take my time and absorb the beauty that the hike gives, but we got to the lake pretty quickly. And since we were on good timing, we decided to try to make a hike to Bradley Lake, just a shy north of Taggart.
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| Look What I Found |
Then after sending the photos to one of my Ecology professors, he wrote back confirming what he believes is the same notion as me: Mountain Lion!!
That was such exciting news to hear...yet alone, a smidge scary...glad we did not run into this animal while on the trail!
Mountain Lion Statistics:
- Stride: 20-30 inches
- Straddle: 7-9 inches
- Actual Print: 4.5-5 inches
Mountain lions are the largest cat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. They will mostly prey upon mule deer and will RARELY attack humans. However, they are incredibly secretive and will usually leave a scene before they are even spotted.
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| Mountain Lion Tracks! |
Don't Worry, I'm safe from the Big Cat!
TheChristyBel
Works Cited:
Johnson, K. (2013). Field guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Helena: Farcountry Press.
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