The elusive mountain lion not always easy to catch on camera around Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Toogee Sielsch of South Lake Tahoe normally spends his free time with the urbanized bears around the south shore, but his cameras placed in the wild often catch other native animals.

A photo found on one of those cameras this week showed something he hadn't been able to capture before, a mountain lion. These big cats live in the Lake Tahoe Basin, but their elusive behavior sometimes makes them seem non-existent.

The mountain lion, also known as a cougar, puma, catamount, or panther, is a large cat native to the Americas, second in size only to the stockier jaguar. Since they are so elusive, their only evidence is normally by a wildlife camera or tracks in the snow or dirt.

"They hunt and consume Mule Deer and other large game animals and since we have deer here in the basin and surrounding valleys, we have big cats too," explained Sarah Hockensmith of the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science. She said she isn't aware of any increase in their numbers as their prey base hasn't increased.

The big cats eat anything from mice to raccoons to coyotes, but most (about 75 percent) of the time, their diet is deer.

"Mountain Lions can have territory ranges spanning a larger radius, especially males, so I couldn't see Tahoe having a large number of big cats roaming the trails," added Hockensmith.

The big cats have been rumored to inhabit ski resort caves on the north side of Tahoe, sightings in Desolation Wilderness, and have seen evidence on the ridges of Carson Pass. They stay active throughout the year and do not hibernate. They do have several anatomical adaptations that help them survive through the winter. In extreme winter conditions, mountain lions take refuge among trees, dens, or caves for safety.

"One who is lucky enough to observe an animal of this caliber is quite lucky," said Hockensmith.