a family of mountain lions who live in a national park were caught on camera in extreme close up gnawing on a dead deer the images showing kittens p 32 and p 33, along with mother p 19, were unveiled wednesday on santa monica mountains national recreation area's facebook page the big cats were photographed tearing limbs, chomping and lapping up the bloody feast at the california park first to arrive: kitten p 33 is seen at the kill site her brother and mother reportedly arrived one hour later  why hello there! p 33 peers up at the sky while inside the santa monica mountains national recreation area  chowing down: kitten p 33 gnaws on the deer carcass at the california park in february at the time the photos were taken, p 33 was 15 months old  feast: p 33 digs into her prey a park ranger has said the animal had to use her carnassial teeth to make cuts  a national park service ranger, identified by ktla as kate kuykendall, wrote on facebook that a remote camera was used for the images she said that the feline family was snapped close to the line that separates la county from ventura county in the santa monica mountains kuykendall wrote: 'kittens normally stay with their mother until they are about one to one and a half years old 'one of the siblings, p 34, had already dispersed and it appears that these kittens may have also left their mom since the photos were taken in mid february 'this is p 19’s second litter and we've been tracking all three kittens since they were four weeks old lapping it up: p 33 licked one of the deer's leg during her meal according to the national park service, mountain lions eat one deer weekly  family meal: mother p 19 (left) and her son p 32 (right) join in on the meal at santa monica mountains national recreation area  all together: the three mountain lions were caught together in remote camera images  'since we started studying these animals in 2002, we have not tracked any male mountain lions that have successfully dispersed out of the santa monica mountains' kuykendall wrote online that p 19 and p 32 arrived at the kill site approximately one hour after p 33 a caption for an image that showed kitten p 33 tearing the carcass said 'mountain lions feed on deer by entering the abdominal cavity first and eating the insides, such as the liver and the heart' kuykendall also explained on facebook the mechanisms that allowed p 33 to chow down she wrote 'notice how p 33 turns her head to the side while she bites through the deer hide? 'she is using her carnassial teeth, which are modified molars and premolars that act as shears to cut through the tough hide and meat mother and daughter: p 19 (closest to the camera) is seen with p 33 at the kill site  approach: p 19 faces the camera   with meat left over from the deer carcass on the ground next to her  'these sharp teeth are excellent at cutting and tearing flesh 'cats do not chew their food, so they actually use these carnassial teeth to tear and cut their meat up into smaller pieces to swallow whole' on its website, the national park service says 'mountain lions typically eat about one deer per week, along with other smaller prey, and the animals in the santa monica mountains are no exception' male and female mountain lions have general home ranges of approximately 200 and 75 square miles, respectively, according to the agency the animals face threats that include roads and construction, as well as ingesting rat poisons, the national park service says information on visiting the santa monica mountains national recreation area can be found here in the wild: kitten p 33 is seen perched on rocks at the kill site  out of the corner: mother p 19 pokes her head out in the darkness  youngster: kitten p 32 was looking at the camera in this shot, a ranger with the santa monica mountains national recreation area has said 
the santa monica mountains february republishment grayfish larder
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