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S41E4: American Ocelot | Clip

Cameraman Reacts to Capturing Rare Ocelot Footage

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Camera trapping shows more than just data, it also captures this ocelot family’s day-to-day behaviors. These filmmakers became the first people ever to see what it takes for a wild American ocelot to raise her young.

Features

American Ocelot -- Making of "American Ocelot" CLIP: 5:39
Making of "American Ocelot"
Wildlife filmmaker Ben Masters sets out on a years-long mission to capture ocelots.
American Ocelot -- Ocelot Moms... They're Just Like Us CLIP: 2:23
Ocelot Moms... They're Just Like Us
Filmmaker Ben Masters brings his infant into the field to "help" with camera trapping.
American Ocelot -- Preview of American Ocelot WATCH: 53:13
American Ocelot
Dive deep into South Texas to meet one of America’s most endangered cats: the ocelot.
TRANSCRIPT

- There's something that you need to see.

(laughing) Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

I hope you can see that.

(laughing) We got it.

Those are... We got the ocelot kittens.

Oh, my God.

(birds singing) And thus began one of the greatest experiences of my life: getting to watch two of these precious kittens grow up.

Merely weeks old, we were the first people to ever get to see what it takes for a wild American ocelot to raise her young.

(birds twittering) During the earliest videos, the mother, who we affectionately called Mama Jane, would often carry the kittens in her mouth.

At other times, we saw her traveling with only one of the kittens.

But in most of the early observations, Mama Jane was out by herself, hunting to provide for the kittens she had left hidden in the brush.

(bird squawking) Birds would often call out as she traveled, warning others there was a predator on the prowl.

(birds squawking)