Fort Collins, Colorado. Where the Rockies meet the Plains. Where the Ranchers meet the Hippies. Where this diverse population of humanity meets an equally diverse wildlife population.

Click 'Caption' on the Gallery to fully experience this blog post.

Accessibility to wild and natural areas in Fort Collins and all along the Front Range is world class, and we've always suspected that,  even though they stay

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out of site, there has to be a multitude of wildlife on or near the trails we hike, bike and enjoy. Well, a project started by the Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy and adopted by the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas program is now proving that there is every species, size and type of animal native to this area at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area. And the proof couldn't be any more real.

Communities, Cameras and Conservation placed motion and heat activated cameras in various areas of Bobcat Ridge Natural Area.  The result? Lions, bobcats and bears, oh my!! And, much more, actually. The gallery above is barely the tip of the iceberg that you'll find at the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas website and also at the Bellevue Bean this weekend. The Bean is having  a special fee showing of the wildlife photos this Saturday from 11am to 4pm. You'll have a chance to support the Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy by making a donation and walking away with a beautiful 2012 calendar that has photos of your furry neighbors.

Deborah Price is a Natural Areas Educator who spoke with me about the Communities, Cameras and Conservation project and related how...

We've had pictures of huge black bears, right on the trail in the middle of the day, in between when people are there...because if you go to Bobcat Ridge and you walk around you're probably not going to see that much, but there's obviously lots of wildlife that lives there.

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