Trail cam captures up-close intimate moment of an apex predator (2025)

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A trail camera has captured the incredible moment between a huge mountain lion and her three cubs just steps away from a residential California neighborhood.

The close-up and intimate moment was captured by a camera set up by Vishal Subramanyan and Cynthia Cross, who have been patiently staking out the Diablo Range for three years in their quest to document the elusive mountain lions of Northern California.

They finally hit the jackpot when their motion-sensor camera captured not just one massive apex predator but her family including three cute cubs in the East Foothills of San Jose.

'All our dreams came true,' Subramanyan told KRON4, speaking about the February recording.

The remarkable footage, which lasts 20 minutes, showed the mother mountain lion nursing her young cubs in the wooded area just outside the suburban neighborhood.

One especially sweet moment was captured showing the predator picking up a cub while the others playfully pranced around.

The UC Berkeley graduate, who holds degrees in ecology and statistics, called it 'one of the most special moments we've ever captured.'

'Mountain lions are obviously an incredible species,' Subramanyan said. 'As an apex predator in the Bay Area, they play a really important role in top-down ecological effects.'

'So seeing a healthy, thriving breeding population of mountain lions gives me a lot of hope, especially with a lot of negative news we see about our environment today,' he continued.

Despite the rare sighting, there are about 4,500 mountain lions that currently roam across the state, according to the UC Davis California Mountain Lion Project.

And not all the interactions with them are so 'aww'-inducing as Subramanyan and Cross' footage.

In January, the residents of a small California town were left on edge after a mountain lion killed a dog in the backyard of a home.

It was the early hours of the morning when the inhabitants of Downieville in the Sierra Nevada, which has a population of 290, woke up to the harrowing scene.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the mountain lion was ultimately shot and killed by a neighbor, but the incident has sparked fears there maybe be more on the prowl, setting off a debate about public safety and wildlife management in the region.

The attack occurred around 3 am when a local resident let her two dogs out into the fenced backyard of her home.

Moments later, she spotted a pair of glowing eyes from a mountain lion staring back at her from the hillside. The mountain lion managed to jump over the fence and enter the yard.

When she called for her two dogs to come back inside, only one listened and returned to safety, while the other was seized by the predator.

'The mountain lion had the dog in its mouth when it was shot and killed,' Peter Tira, a spokesperson for the CDFW confirmed.

Despite the homeowner's best efforts, the dog did not survive.

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