A Parks Canada conservation officer has captured a female lynx on camera once again as she checks out her reflection in a window at Deer Lodge near Lake Louise.

Conservation officer, Alex Taylor, was called out to the lodge and found a female lynx sitting almost motionless in front of a ground floor window, apparently transfixed by her own reflection.

Staff at the lodge say the female cat sat staring at the window for over 30 minutes.

Parks staff believe the mother cat thought the image was another animal that might be a threat to her kitten and think she stayed to keep an eye on it.

“This is a great example of Parks Canada working with the public to help keep our wildlife safe while also sharing a really neat story,” said Rick Kubian, Parks Canada Resource Conservation Manager for the Lake Louise area. “We received a call from Deer Lodge saying that a lynx was acting strangely next to their building which prompted a quick response from our staff member."

This is the second time the mother cat has been captured on camera in the area.

At the end of February, Taylor snapped images and video of the female cat and her kitten as they squeezed through a fence near Lake Louise.


“This lynx family has been putting on quite the show this winter for a few incredibly fortunate park visitors,” said Taylor. “Given their reclusive nature, we don't see them that often, so this winter has been pretty special. Though we can’t say for sure, we think they’ve been taking advantage of a rise in the local snowshoe hare population, which is their preferred food.”


Staff at Deer Lodge and Taylor were able to keep an eye on the cat to make sure she was not injured.

"Deer Lodge staff did a great job of securing the area and keeping their guests a safe distance from the lynx so as not to disturb it," said Taylor. "I'm pretty sure we all had an incredible and rare viewing experience. It is possible the adult lynx saw, in her own reflection, another lynx that she thought may have presented some sort of a threat to her kitten and she wanted to keep an eye on it."

Conservation officers say that the kitten eventually poked its head around the side of the building and the pair disappeared into the forest.
Source


Lynx pair put on a show in Lake Louise par TheGazette