The US Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region posted these photos of a standoff between two juvenile mountain lions and five coyotes at the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming.
(All photos credit Lori Iverson, USFWS, via Flickr)
The photos, posted on Flickr, have the description:
The National Elk Refuge’s Outdoor Recreation Planner witnessed a spectacular standoff between two juvenile mountain lions and five coyotes.
The coyotes let the cats know they weren’t welcome in the area. The mountain lions sought safety on a buck and rail fence for over an hour while the coyotes lurked in the background.
The encounter ended with one of the mountain lions slowly making its way down the fence, occasionally dropping to the ground where it was met by lunges and yips by the coyotes. The mountain lion responded with hisses and yowls.
Eventually, it ran across the creek on the fence and took off running with the five coyotes in pursuit.
The second mountain lion was still hunkered down in the grass under the fence when the Outdoor Recreation Planner called it a night.
