SAN DIEGO — Wildlife photographer Roy Toft travels all over the world, capturing images of Bengal tigers in India to Jaguars in Brazil. He loves animals of all kinds, but he is especially fond of big cats.
But he doesn’t have to go far from his Ramona home to catch a glimpse of one of North America’s fiercest apex predators.
"It's just exciting to know, they're still here, they're still living around people, for the most part, they don't cause much harm," says Toft from his patio in Ramona "For me to know they're here, to get photos of them. It's just exciting."
Toft has four motion-activated trail cameras in various spots around his property. Places that he hopes will attract all sorts of foot traffic day or night.
But while the video and images are incredible, what the viewer doesn’t see is all the hard work it took to get that shot.
"People have no idea the effort you put in with remote cameras. They think, 'oh you're not even there. It's so easy.'" he says "I'm spending hours changing batteries, and there's just false triggers and replacing cards and stuff gets messed up."
What Toft really wants people to see is how amazing these creatures are close up. These big cats are right in our backyard and although deadly, have little interest in humans. Toft's remote cameras, picking up a side of nature rarely seen so close.
"We have really a mountain lion come through once a month. So it's not like something to get nervous about, like they're here all the time," he says "We're lucky when they move though and we celebrate it."
If you'd like to check out Roy's photos on Instagram you can follow him @toftphotosafaris or click here.
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