August 25, 2009: Animals at Coe and an Observation report

Stephen Migol

I went to Henry Coe SP last night for what turned out to be a really nice evening.

I wanted to get some extra data on an imaging project and last night was the last opportunity that I saw to get good shots.

Other Tac people showed up, Andy (sorry, I forgot your last name!) and Rogelio.

The air was still and warm and there were early signs of a fog blanket that might come in to cover the valley lights. While Gilroy and Morgan Hill did get socked in, South San Jose remained visible for the entire night.

I have been going after a wide-field image of the Veil region and I wanted to add a few more hours of data to the collection. My entire evening was spent letting the scope run on autopilot while I browsed the sky with binoculars.

The real sights of the evening were the animals... on the way up, I saw a couple of wild turkeys and tarantulas on the road. On my way back down, I saw a grey fox. Previously, I've seen skunk, raccoon, bobcat, wild boar, and many other beasties.

Last night was the first time I saw a mountain lion, though!

I was on my way back down the hill at 4 am and right after clearing the turns past the cattle guard, I came up behind an adult lion walking on the road. They weren't phased by me and continued walking ahead of me for several more yards. I tried to get a photo, but my camera was still set for astrophotography and I couldn't change the settings in the dark too well.

Seeing this large predator really gave me the willies and got me to thinking about general safety when observing alone. I'll be calling the ranger station so that they can alert hikers and campers of the mountain lion.

Amazing stuff!

Stephen