LESSONS IN WINTER
In January 2021, as part of a cougar conservation book project that John is still currently working on, he embarked on a full month of dawn to dusk tracking in Banff National Park in the hopes of finding a wild cougar to photograph.
After a dismal start during which he could not even find any fresh cougar tracks for twelve days, lucky Day 13 proved to be different. Wandering the forest behind Buffalo Mountain Lodge on Tunnel Mountain, Marriott stumbled across a mother cougar feeding on a deer carcass with her five-month old kitten.
The moment turned into one of the most exhilarating encounters of Marriott’s career. For two days he watched and photographed this gorgeous mother and kitten pair as they ate, played and stared curiously at the human pointing a big glass eye at them.
This image is featured on the back of a ROAM transit bus that regularly travels in the Bow Valley providing local transport.
