48 Mountain Lions of the Black Hills
the porcupines. Those that had consumed the prey had quills and paws in the stom-
ach, suggesting that the cats had removed the paws after flipping the porcupine on its
back. These cats also had quills throughout the remainder of the gastrointestinal tract,
but those quills were quite rubbery, owing to the effects of stomach acid. The impor-
tance of this prey to mountain lions was further evidenced by a visual observation of
a female carry ing a porcupine carcass while traveling with her kittens; the observa-
tion occurred during he li cop ter surveys for mountain lions in the Black Hills (D. M.
Fecske, SDSU, pers. commun.).
Other information obtained from mountain lion carcasses indicated that most
(75%) of the animals came from the southern region of the Black Hills. This could be
a function of our initial sampling of the population and could be related to the distri-
bution of the human population, in that most visitors to the region spend time in Custer
State Park and Wind Cave National Park. However, the information did support tracks
found in the region and sightings when adjusted for human population density (see
fig. 1.7). Also, most of these carcasses had high fat indices, which indicated that there
was plenty of prey, in this case porcupines, as well as other prey within the parks, to
support the low population. During one capture attempt in the southern portion of
Custer State Park, I recall walking through snow 2–3 inches deep and kicking up bones
of bison (Bison bison) and other species. Although these bones could have come from
scavenged winter mortalities, that area of the park was ripe for capture of mountain
lions during the early years of our studies.
One of the positive aspects of studying a long- lived species is that proj ects that ex-
tend over several years allow the accumulation of radio- collared individuals (Logan
Table 4.1. Characteristics of mountain lion mortalities in the Black Hills,
South Dakota, 1996–2000N Sex Age Fata Foodb Mortality Location Proximityc
1 M 8.5–9.5 L PP Shooting Custer South
1 M 2.5–3.5 L NA Vehicle Spearfish North
1 F 1.5–2.5 H PP Tr ap Lake Pactola Central
1 M 4–5 Months M NA Vehicle S. Hill City South
1 F 3.5–4.5 NA NA Shooting Pringle South
1 F 3.5–4.5 H PP Capture Custer South
1 M 1.5–2.5 H PP Vehicle Black Hawk North
1 F 1.5–2.5 H PP Shooting Deerfield Lake Central
1 M 4.5–5.5 NA NA Shooting Hot Springs South
1 M 2.5–3.5 H PP Interaction Custer South
1 F 3.5–4.5 H None Fire Jewel Cave South
1 F 1.5–2.5 NA NA Shooting Hot Springs South
Sourcea : Fecske, Jenks, and Lindzey 2003.
bFat reserves were ranked as high (H), medium (M), or low (L) based on kidney fat.
cCatagories in the table are PP = porcupine, NA^ = not evaluated, None = GI tract empty.
Proximity refers to region of the Black Hills.