Lion season, that is.

Hunter called right about dinner time (but we ate early). Killed a mountain lion today, and was hoping to get it registered.

Okay.

Normally the wardens handle this, because they want to, but I happen to know one is already out of state. Not sure about the other, but they may be on the road, too.

So, twenty minutes later I have scoured the computer and printed out what I hope is the most recent lion harvest report form. And am waiting on the porch, flashlight in hand.

Turns out the hunter is already here, visiting a friend across the street. So we go through the process. He fills out the data sheet. Besides the standards on who the hunter was, and where the lion was killed, we ask questions like

How many days did you hunt? (4)

Were dogs used? (Y. In this case, two cattle dogs who had never chased a lion before. The older one left when he found out how big the cat that they treed was.)

Number of lions observed: (1)

Were you selective while hunting? (N)

All questions designed to give our lion experts a better idea of how many lions are in the area, how they are hunted, and to watch changes in these things over time.

While the hunter plows through the data form, his buddy helps me gets a few pictures, particularly of the lion's teeth.

The lion's teeth are then compared to a generalized chart of tooth wear.

It's not an exact science, but since most lions everywhere tend to eat the same things, you can get a rough idea of how old they are by how the teeth are worn, and how the gum line is receding.

This lion being female, we also checked her nipples.

Which were exceedingly difficult to find. The small, pale nipples means she has never nursed, which means she was probably quite young. Still had a few black marks on the insides of her legs, which again suggests a young cat.

My best guess (and guess it is, since I've aged maybe one or two lions a year, at most) is two or three years.

Probably closer to two, but hey, I could easily be wrong.

Which is why we also pull one of the tiny teeth from behind the huge canine tooth on the top jaw, so the lab can count the rings in the tooth root.

'Course, that ain't so reliable either, because annular rings in mammal teeth come from the seasonal changes in growth rates. In North America, that is normally a wide growth in summer, narrow ring in winter.

Lions don't always grow that way. Sometimes, for them, winter is the season of plenty. Depends on how easy the deer are to catch that year.

A half-hour later the hunter and his friend are back inside, and I am being intensely sniffed by two heelers.

Lion! I tell them. Biiig cat!

Then I start calling the numbers on our weekend lion harvest report list. And luck out with the second number, catching a gal at home in Capitol City. And within hours, the automated number that lion hunters are expected to call will register one less lion available for the harvest quota in this area.

Guess maybe now I should clean the lion blood off my knife.