32 Mountain Lions of the Black Hills
border) to the central (Deerfield Lake and east to Route 385) region of the Black
Hills. After the two years of obtaining locations on this male, we worried that the radio
transmitter would fail (transmitters are generally guaranteed for about three years)
or the collar material would break; either circumstance would end our contact with
the lion. To prevent this from happening, we set out to recollar the male in early fall,
just prior to the deer harvest season. Because the mountain lion was transmitting a
signal, we flew over it to document its pres ent location and then traveled by truck to a
site close by, where were able to home in on the animal with a telemetry receiver and
release hounds on its trail. We did so in a remote area of the Black Hills along the
Wyoming border and followed it over two mountains before the hounds were able to
tree it. We then immobilized the cat. At the time of the second capture, the male
weighed about 78 kg (175 lbs.), and despite the large home range and two additional
years of traversing a rather large portion of the region, there was no evidence (scars
or wounds) indicative of territorial fights with other males. Again, we collected other
figure 3.1. The recapture of mountain lion M4. Note the rocky terrain that is typical
along the South Dakota– Wyoming border of the Black Hills. M4 was initially pinned on
a rock cliff by hounds. Steve Griffin and Jack Alexander were able to retrieve the hounds,
allowing the cat to move to the adjacent hillside, where it was treed and recaptured.
Photo by John Kanta.