Thursday, September 11, 2008

Mountain Lion Kittens


Here is Keith holding a mountain lion baby, about 4 weeks old. There are 2 babies this season, Bella and Edward. Both are covered with spots all over their fuzzy coats. These spots begin to disappear after 3-4 months and they will turn the solid, tawny golden color we are used to seeing in adult mountain lions. These little guys love to be held and petted. They have learned to toddle after their caretakers and will come when called. Bottle feeding time is quite an event—one must wear gloves for protection during their enthusiastic nursing! They do not learn to retract their claws until they are a few months old. Once again we've had the joy of seeing up close and, in some cases, getting to hold one of God's amazing creations!

2 comments:

KyrieEleison said...

Wow! I didn't know that baby mountain lions had spots. Great pictures!

Melonie said...

They are SO adorable! (I didn't know they had spots, either.) We saw something on TV the other night about a couple who was helping to raise a bear cub, and it was so interesting. They talked about his claws and his teeth, too! Yikes. I am really enjoying all your pictures!