Results of the mountain lion tagging program indicated 

 that several females shared the Stanley Creek area from 1975 

 through 1978. During the winter of 1975-76 a marked female 

 lion (A99) , a marked male lion and another female with kit- 

 tens of the year were present. During the 1976-77 winter, 

 A99 was again trapped and another female with kittens of the 

 year was present. During the 1977-78 winter the area was 

 again used by a female with kittens of the year. This infor- 

 mation shows that the Stanley Creek area produced a minimum 

 of 3 litters of kittens in 3 years and provided habitat for 

 an unknown number of other lions. Female lions sharing a 

 portion of their home range with other female lions was 

 noted in Idaho by Hornocker (19 70) . He indicates that in 

 the population stability of mountain lions, an area which is 

 mutually used by adult females constitutes a key portion of 

 their range. In this instance the Stanley Creek area was 

 the key grounds. In 19 75 and 19 76 a total of eight differ- 

 ent mountain lions was known to have used to Stanley Creek 

 area or its tributaries (Appendix 14). 



One mountain lion was captured and fitted with a radio- 

 transmitter collar during this study (Figure 17) . This fe- 

 male lion kitten was captured in January 1978, 37 days after 

 she and a sibling had been orphaned (Joslin and Brown 19 78) . 

 A family group consisting of one adult and two kittens had 

 moved from Stanley Mountain north along the road at the base 

 of Keeler Mountain and had ascended Keeler Mountain on De- 

 cember 5 (E. Vance pers. comm. ) . On December 16 the author 

 noted one adult and two kitten tracks along Keeler Creek. 

 An adult female lion was shot by a hunter on December 17 

 approximately 0.5 km (0.33 mi) from the previous day's loca- 

 tion. Three weeks elapsed before the author learned of the 

 kill. Information from local residents finally led to the 

 capture of one of the orphaned kittens in Camp Creek. The 

 presumed sibling was found dead along Lake Creek 2 months 

 later. 



At the time of capture the kitten had vague body spots 

 and appeared larger than its 7 to 9 kg (15 to 20 pound) 

 weight would suggest. There are no established criteria 

 to age mountain lion kittens although Greer (1976) describes 

 kittens in three age groups based on dental information as 

 follows: Kit A = all teeth deciduous, Kit B = permanent 

 incisors in place/permanent canines erupting. Kit C = perma- 

 net canines half erupted. The left lower permanent canine 

 was observed erupting on February 22, while the right lower 

 canine did not erupt for approximately two more weeks. Both 

 lower deciduous canines were shed in March. The upper perma- 

 nent canines erupted in late March forcing the deciduous 

 upper canines out in early April. The evidence (teeth, 

 body spots, weight) indicates that at the time of capture 

 the kitten was a Kit B and at the time of release it was a 

 Kit C. 



39 



