I’ve seen the Ghost.
Those who live or spend a lot of time in San Diego County’s wild places call mountain lions the Ghost of the Chaparral, because they are elusive, secretive, cunning and rarely seen.
I have spotted only two in my life, and one of those encounters was on a pre-dawn hike near Santa Ysabel when I noticed what looked like two green reflectors on the trail ahead of me, just beyond the reach of my headlamp.
I wondered what would be shiny here in the brush, far from any fence or trail marker. Then the reflectors blinked.
Coyote, bobcat, fox?
I had taken a few steps closer, when the glowing reflectors moved, and in the dim light, I clearly saw the powerful body and long, upturned tail of the big cat as it slipped away into the dense shrubbery.
I’d be lying if I didn’t it the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
My other live sighting was many years earlier as a Boy Scout when I worked at a camp in Cuyamaca.
As I followed the Azalea Glen trail on a soft summer morning, a big cat was crouched on the hillside as I ed. He simply watched as I kept moving while talking to him like he was a friendly dog.
Thankfully, he must have thought, “this scrawny kid is not worth the effort for a meal.”
Since that time, I have seen mountain lion tracks as large as my hand and captured incidental images of them ing hobby trail cameras I’ve placed in the wilds.
About a year ago I decided to begin a project to photograph area wildlife with more sophisticated, full-color, high-resolution cameras.
I knew the Ghost of the Chaparral would be my most challenging subject.
I built waterproof housings for the camera and multiple flash units, and purchased an electronic Camtraptions trigger that detects movement and sends a signal to a receiver on the camera to take a picture. Another transmitter on the camera sends a signal to the flash units to fire, all at the speed of light.
Larger camera, flash and trigger batteries allow the game camera to operate, unattended, for nearly two weeks.
I tested the system here at Mt. Hoo, and was thrilled with photos of the local critters, including owls, coyotes, bobcats, opossums and raccoons.
It was time to head to the wilds.
Now came the challenges of finding the Ghost.
I needed someplace remote where mountain lions might be found, and narrow, well-defined game trails where animals would likely travel.
The best camera locations would be away from human activity with a good population of deer, the primary food source for the cougar.
With a range of over 300 square miles, I knew the chances of capturing a good image of a mountain lion would be slim.
A few backcountry friends offered their property, and for a time I deployed the camera near a local fire lookout, since there was someone there to keep an eye on things.
Sometimes I hiked to remote places in the National Forest that were difficult to reach unless accessed from adjacent private property.
I drove several thousand miles over the year, and each visit to change camera batteries and SD cards was filled with Christmas-like anticipation. What gifts would I have waiting for me this time?
The most common animals photographed were bobcats and foxes, but plenty of deer, wild turkey, ringtails, woodrats, mice, squirrels and birds made cameo appearances.
Over 17 months I made 57 trips and would excitedly open the camera and begin reviewing the images, always hoping I had caught the Ghost.
This beautiful animal, recognized by many Native American cultures as a powerful and fearless guardian, remained hauntingly elusive.
On visit 58 I began to view the usual suspects. There were wild turkeys, a gray squirrel, a covey of quail, deer and a fox, then the Ghost appeared.
Looking directly at me were the piercing yellow eyes of this apex predator that had triggered the camera as it moved silently over a leaf-covered trail through a thick oak woodland in search of food.
I could not have asked for a better shot.
My quest to capture this spirit of the wild was a success.
My next goals are to photograph desert kit foxes and badgers, a rare animal in San Diego County.
But the magnificent image of the Ghost of the Chaparral will be the one I most .
I do believe in ghosts.
Wren nesting update
As I write this, a clutch of seven jellybean-sized eggs have been laid in the tiny, 4-by-4-inch nest box just outside our window at Mt. Hoo.
It’s an amazing process to watch through the eye of a tiny camera inside the box, and hopefully the nest will soon be filled with the sounds of chicks demanding food.
We expect eggs to hatch in about 13 days, so we are expecting chicks about May 6.
You can follow the miracle through photos and videos on our “Updates from Mt. Hoo” Facebook page.
Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email [email protected] or visit erniesoutdoors.blogspot.com.
