Feedback — Wild Nature Media

COLIN CROFT, SCOTTS BLUFF COUNTY, NEBRASKA

I have a fair amount of experience with trail cameras and capturing mountain lions with them. I enrolled in David’s Individual Mountain Lion Workshop because I wanted to leverage his extensive field experience and novel location technique/theory to help take my mountain lion knowledge and camera trapping to the next level. While I haven’t had the chance to set cams in most of David’s recommended locations, this video is from a cam located only about twenty feet from one of David’s suggested mountain lion travel paths.

David’s approach/technique has me exploring “up top” territory rather than just the wooded ravines where I’ve previously concentrated my camera work, which I’m confident will produce good results (for several species not just mountain lions). David’s experience/expertise with cameras and videography is obvious; he provided several useful tips that have improved my ability to edit/present wildlife videos. His communication/responsiveness has been excellent, and his motivations and “mission” of his wildlife work seal the deal of a package that is money well-spent--whatever your level of wildlife watching/camera trapping knowledge may be. If you aren’t familiar with Google Earth—particularly its folder system—completing a basic Earth tutorial before taking the workshop will speed up your learning curve and facilitate working with the information David provides.

CAMERON MELLIN, VETERINARY STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-MARYLAND

What an experience, as a wildlife researcher and veterinary student, David’s wisdom into the world of mountain lions is invaluable. These are incredibly complex animals, and David understands them on a level few others are capable of. David takes the time to answer all your questions surrounding mountain lion behavior, interactions with prey, and motivations for establishing territory & movement patterns. His ability to “read” the landscape for lion activity, taking into account factors such as wind, weather, and pressure gradients, makes this workshop an enlightening, invaluable opportunity.

David is well known throughout the conservation community, and he provided me some wonderful contacts in the world of mountain lions. As a veterinary student, such guidance is vital to building a career in conservation, and through David's assistance I have been able to establish some wonderful research opportunities for the future.

If you’re looking to broaden your understanding of these complex cats, and improve your research & camera trap efficiency in the process, David’s workshop is the way to go. I can’t wait to see what else my research cameras come up with, and I can say with confidence I now understand mountain lion behavior on a deeper level than would have ever been possible without this workshop.

Cameron Mellin is a third-year veterinary student at the University of Virginia-Maryland. A new Arizona resident, he was drawn to this state by his passion to protect and study carnivores, crafting a future where apex predators & livestock can coexist. He was attracted to Arizona’s wilderness by endangered Mexican grey wolves, puma and a rich history of big game hunting and conservation. He is particularly interested in re-establishing the northern jaguar. Mr. Mellin is a research associate with Primero Conservation where he is tasked with keeping the team and the wildlife patients safe in the Arizona backcountry as they anesthetize, collar and sero-survey mountain lions. He is spearheading mountain lion research, identifying emerging infectious diseases, while directing and writing a short film about the project.

VISHAL, STUDENT, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

I’m a wildlife photographer and college student who has been fascinated with mountain lions for as long as I can remember. When I first heard about David’s knowledge of mountain lions and ability to map out their locations, I was amazed. I attended one of his webinars where he shared some of his knowledge, and I learned a lot. Wanting to learn more, I signed up for the workshop soon after.

Prior to this workshop, I had little understanding of how mountain lions navigated the landscape. In particular, I had never considered how wind direction played a role in mountain lion movement. After taking the workshop, I learned how important it is in determining mountain lion movements. I also learned about various other important factors that determine mountain lion activity.

David has been very timely in communication, and whenever I had questions about what I observed in the field, he responded very quickly with his feedback. In addition to the amazing mountain lion knowledge, David also provided valuable information about placing trail cameras to maximize footage quality.

Overall, this workshop was an invaluable learning experience for me, and I really enjoyed every part of it.

EDAN, STUDENT, WILDLIFE ENTHUSIAST, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

I'm 14 years old and I am very passionate about wildlife. My hobbies include wildlife photography and camera trapping. I have always wanted to successfully film mountain lions but I was struggling to capture them.

I came across David's website and I was shocked to see all the experience and knowledge he has studying mountain lions. I was fascinated by his knowledge about how mountain lions hunt and navigate. He also taught me that wind direction plays a huge role in camera trapping.

I’ve learned more about camera placement which has been so helpful when I go out in the field because I have a different mindset and I'm thinking a lot more about what would be most effective in catching mountain lions. David mapped out over 30 locations on where to set up cameras as well as look for water locations.

I'm also very grateful to get support anytime I have a question or need advice in the field. For example the other day while in the field I reached out to get guidance on where to place the camera and he called me back immediately. The workshop has been very worthwhile, informative and actually very interesting.

KIM JOHNSTON, LARGE CARNIVORE SPECIALIST, PEOPLE AND CARNIVORES

People and Carnivores is a Montana-based non-profit organization that protects, connects, and restores wolf, mountain lion, grizzly and black bear populations by working with the region’s people to prevent human-carnivore conflicts.

Our team of field specialists works on the ground with communities, private landowners, and public land and wildlife managers to apply tools that either remove attractants from the landscape, or keep wild carnivores away from them. This keeps wildlife alive and moving and people and property safe.

The workshop David Neils personalized for us was beyond informative. I have been running trail cameras as a wildlife biologist for years and was pleasantly surprised how much I was able to learn from David's workshop. David helped us find better, high quality trail cameras, along with where to find the best accessories, to improve our media quality.

David customized and mapped out mountain lion hunting routes and areas in such an informative way, it changed the way I think about camera placement and animal movement. David went above and beyond providing additional tips, recommendations, and resources to help us improve our large carnivore monitoring. As someone who thought they knew a lot about trail camera monitoring, I was blown away by how much I learned through David to continue to improve my skills.

This workshop was well worth the time and I will be looking at workshops in the future to continue to learn more from David Neils on how to improve our trail camera media and monitoring of large carnivores.

Stay tuned for pictures from the field!

--

Kimberly Johnston, Field Project Manager

People and Carnivores

www.peopleandcarnivores.org

GLYNN BYLES - LOS LAGOS, CHILE (WORKSHOP CLIENT)

First puma footage three weeks after taking the Mountain Lion Workshop.

Here we go David! A puma at cam 3 this afternoon. I only set it up two days ago. I still find it incredible that you knew that would be a good place from looking at a map. You didn´t tell me it would be during the day though! The puma passed at 5.35pm and I went past at 5.40pm to check the camera at the cam 4 position. Could that be a pregnant female? Or maybe she had just eaten a bunny.

I am amazed at David’s ability to pinpoint locations and travel routes that the pumas will use in a country half way around the world that he has never visited.

I previously was looking for pumas on a hill close to the farm because I thought they would appear in early morning and late evening looking for prey. David explained that it would be very unusual for a puma to expose themselves and give their position away to prey.

I have received continued support after the workshop. It has been a bonus to receive advice on camera placement and equipment to use to produce the best pictures and videos.

DAREN O’BRIEN - WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO (WORKSHOP CLIENT)

Daren O'Brien, a recent Mountain Lion Photography Workshop participant, writes:

As wildlife photography is my passion and hobby, I have spent many hours in the backcountry capturing photos of wild animals in their natural settings, and the biggest challenge has been mountain lions.

Realizing there could be many days, months and years spent hiking in mountain lion country and I would never see one, so I started looking at other options. I discovered a mountain lion workshop that David Neils was teaching at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch in Loveland CO, so I joined the course and spent a day with David and our group hiking up the local canyon. As we hiked along, David taught us a great deal about mountain lions as he has an amazing wealth of knowledge. He showed us a lion scrape, showed us how to read the terrain and what to look for in ridge lines, topographic pinch spots, water holes and creek beds; and he talked about the importance of wind and weather and how it all relates to lion behavior and patterns.

After the course I sent David a Google Earth shot of some areas in the foothills, a place David has never seen. In one particular area he drew a line and dropped some pins along a ridge and said to check that location for lion activity. So I surveyed the ridge and set up cams at a location where I found a potential scrape site and within one week got fantastic footage of a two mountain lions. Unbelievable! Without meeting David and taking his course, I would have never known as much as I do now about mountain lions, what to look for and how to get the mountain lion footage as I did. David has also been more than willing to give advice, provide direction and listen to my lion adventures moving forward.

Thanks to David for sharing his knowledge as well as all of his great videos and events.

MELANI WRIGHT - HURRICANE, UTAH

Before I decided to take the workshop from David at Wild Nature Media I was struggling to piece together the information I'd gathered from others and observed for myself in order to find places to put trail cameras and/or camera traps. I was having occasional success but I knew from what I saw other people doing that it could be a lot better. I'd seen the workshop advertised and had been thinking about it but told myself I'd have to wait till later. When the time finally was right everything fell into place and I was excited to finally jump in. I signed up and David promptly got in touch with me. We were able to schedule a one on one meeting over Zoom to discuss what I wanted to do, what my local area was like and what factors would influence the activity of mountain lions in my area. We also talked about the things David had learned over the years he's been studying lions in Colorado and how they applied to me and what I'm trying to do.

Soon I had a map with lots of places marked for me to look for lion activity. I'll be benefiting from just that map for years to come! But that's not all that's included in the workshop. Each time I went out in the field to place my cameras I would send David an update and he gave me feedback helping me to put into practice the things we'd talked about in our meetings. Even though I know I still have so much to learn regarding tracking and camera trapping I've come so much farther in the last couple of months than I ever would have on my own. Investing in David's workshop and in myself has been worth every dollar I spent!

COLE HOLLOWAY - BOZEMAN, MONTANA

Before taking David Neils' Mountain Lion Workshop, I believed I had a comprehensive understanding of mountain lions. To my surprise, I couldn't have been more mistaken! The workshop not only enriched my knowledge but also provided a fresh perspective on how mountain lions navigate, hunt, and interact within their surroundings. The insights gained from this workshop, coupled with Neils’ ongoing guidance, made it simple and easy to deploy my first trail camera and accurately identify mountain lion activity. By linking environmental factors such as thermals, cold air drainage, and wind direction to the behavior of these majestic animals, the complexities of understanding them became significantly more manageable. I am excited to apply this newfound knowledge to capture mountain lions on film in the future.

One of Colin Croft’s research lions.