Chile - our first encounter…
On our most recent puma photographic trip we were to have 5 full days working with our team of local trackers and guides. We had had our full briefing the night before and we were all well versed on the signal that we may hear should a puma be spotted - Contacto! So with all our layers packed ready, even though it was no colder than your average chilly winters day in the UK, we set off hoping to get lucky on our first drive. In a nice change for trips of this type, our departure time was 8.45 am, a far cry from the very early starts that mostly accompany these types of trips. Despite the late start it was still dark when we left for the park on our first morning.
Out in the vehicles ready for some puma tracking as the sun rises
We headed into the area that we were due to search that day with our tracker already out ahead of us looking. We hadn’t been driving for long when the radio crackled and we heard the magic word - Contacto! At that point the mood in the vehicle changed and we all started running through what we were going to do. We didn’t have long to think though as our vehicle was only a few seconds away from where our furry friend had been spotted and we soon saw her walking along a ridge. Not only had we got a puma, but we had got one of the most famous and habituated ones in the region - Petaca, a roughy 8 year old female, and a daughter of our wonderful puma from 2017 - a fantastic start indeed!
One of the reasons that Petaca is so famous is because she is so tolerant of photographers, and is quite happy to go about her business without any worry about anyone in the area, but unfortunately for us it meant that she wasn’t going to stick around; she was on a mission and we were going to have to follow. Now the thing about layers and dressing for the cold, is that it doesn’t tend to work so well when you have to go uphill, carrying the tripod and the camera! We learnt that sometimes, when it comes to winter layers, less is actually more and the super down jackets weren’t actually needed at all!
The wonderful Petaca - the star of our day 1 show
We followed her on foot for a little while before she managed to give us the slip - she does have twice the number of legs after all! Our tracker suspected that based on her current speed and direction that she was likely heading back to a kill that a male had made a few days prior, so we got back into the vehicles to make the journey round the valley. When we arrived we were delighted to find that she was indeed at the kill site. We were able to spend the next few hours with her, she would feed for a little while, then move a little way away to rest. She didn’t like the caracaras though, these are carrion birds, and if she suspected that they were on her kill she would return to chase them away. After filling our cards we decided to leave the area to go and have some lunch of our own and a bit of a break.
Whilst waiting for Petaca to wake up from her cat naps we were able to take in the awesome scenery!
After lunch we were able to easily pick her back up again thanks to our guides, she had moved a little further away from the kill and was sleeping against a bush. After only a short time she woke up and again delighted us with another close walk before taking up position against the incredible backdrop of the Torres del Paine - what an incredible first day!
