A fearless skunk was caught on camera dragging roadkill into a mountain lion’s den.
The incredible video, captured by Janet Pesaturo in Columbia Falls, Montana, shows the small but tenacious skunk dragging chunks of the turkey carcass into the lion’s lair.
What followed was an unexpected series of events that left the starving mountain lion with nothing but scraps while the brazen skunk feasted undisturbed.
Pesaturo, who set up the trail cameras to track wildlife, said she and her husband, Robert Zak, set out the turkey carcass and waited to see which creature would take the tempting treat.
As it turned out, the skunk devoured most of the turkey remains, which was no surprise to the wildlife enthusiast as she says ‘skunks will eat just about anything.’
However, what surprised her was watching the daring skunk dismantle the carcass into manageable chunks before hauling them into the lion’s hollow log.
‘I didn’t realize that skunks would cache their food like that,’ she told the Cowboy State Daily, adding: ‘It was the first time I ever got a video of a skunk doing that.’
Pesaturo said that over the next few days the skunk ‘consumed its fill’ before other unlikely predators swooped in to get their share.
A fearless skunk was caught on camera dragging roadkill into a mountain lion’s den
The incredible video shows the small but tenacious skunk dragging chunks of the turkey carcass into the lion’s lair, seemingly undeterred by the dangers of the predator’s territory
Pictured: The mountain lion (pictured) that finally showed up after the carcass had been mostly devoured
‘A fox and bobcat also showed up to gobble some down,’ Pesaturo told the outlet.
Then some ravens showed up to pick at the bones until the mountain lion finally showed up.
But to the lion’s dismay, the dinner party was over, and there was nothing left for the hungry apex predator.
The wildlife aficionado said she got her first taste in wildlife tracking when she and her husband were living in Massachusetts.
Trail cameras ‘became an obsession for me because I got into wildlife tracking about 20 years ago,’ Pesaturo said. ‘Seeing is believing, and I just wanted to see what was really happening out there.’
In Massachusetts, Pesaturo said the wildlife lives in small patches of natural cover amid sprawling suburbs – a much different landscape than that of northwest Montana.
‘Fishers (a weasel-like species) are suburban animals in Massachusetts,’ she said, adding that fishers and their cousins, pine martens, are rare in states like Wyoming and Montana.
Pesaturo said she was excited to get videos of ‘big and spectacular’ animals such as grizzlies, wolves and mountain lions when the couple moved to Montana
Janet Pesaturo, who captured the remarkable video, said that over the next few days the skunk ‘consumed its fill’ before other unlikely predators swooped in to get their share. Pictured: A bobcat sniffs around the lion’s lair in search of the dismantled turkey carcass
‘A fox and bobcat also showed up to gobble some down,’ Pesaturo told the Cowboy State Daily
To the mountain lion’s dismay, the dinner party was over and there was nothing left for the hungry apex predator
But, she wasn’t expecting a skunk to put on one of the best display.
Along with her husband, Pesaturo operates a social media account, called Winterberry Wildlife Cams, where they post wildlife videos for their more than 7,000 followers.
The newly established Montanan said her husband handles the technical side of setting up the cameras using his background in engineering, while she uses her wildlife tracking abilities to find the ‘best places’ to set them up.
Pesaturo’s remarkable ‘skunk show’ comes just after another surprising wildlife encounter was caught on film in February.
Recorded by Dick Brewer and shared by Matt Devitt of WINK Weather, the shocking footage showed the moment a Florida panther approaches an apparently unaware opossum.
Despite a brief exchange of bared teeth, the panther ultimately moved on, proving that even top predators don’t always choose aggression.
Florida panthers, an endangered species with an estimated population of just 200, typically hunt deer and wild hogs but will also prey on smaller mammals like opossums.
This particular opossum, however, seemed to escape unharmed. As a protected species under state and federal law, Florida panthers remain a rare and remarkable sight in the wild.
