Interesting Facts About Mountain Lions

Interesting Facts About Mountain Lions

1. Also known as puma, puma cancolor, panther, cougar, catamount, painter.

2. Cats are divided into two groups, big cats and small cats.

3. Small cats include house cats, but the cougar is also considered a small cat.

4. Yet cougars are larger than some big cats, such as cheetahs. So what makes one cat “big” and another “small” if it isn’t size?

5. The deciding factor is actually the sound they make. Most big cats can roar, but can’t purr. Small cats can purr,  but they can’t roar.  This difference comes from the hyoid bone, which connects the tongue to the roof of the mouth.

6. In a big cat, this bone is flexible and lifts up.  In a small cat, the hyoid bone is hard, so the animal can only purr.

7. Their looks, development, and behavior are both similar to and different from other cats.

8. Cougar tracks lack nail prints because of retractable nails.

9. Uniformly tan in color with black tipped tail and dark spots behind the ears. Cougars are brown,beige,and,black.

10. Juveniles have dark spots and a dark ringed tail until approximately one year of age.

11. Males are larger than females. 

12. Males can reach approximately 8 feet and weigh between 100 and 150 lbs.

13. Females can reach 7 feet and weigh between 60 and 90 lbs.

14. Mountain lions can occur in a wind variety of habitats - forests, swamps, grasslands.

15. More dependent on adequate sources of food. Home ranges vary, but are large.

16. Cougars live in Canada, ArgenIna, Mexico, Patagonia, and the Amazon. Cougars are mostly common in deserts. Cougars live alone.

17. Can mate any time of year, although it is more concentrated from December to March.

18. Litters contain 1-6 cubs, although the average is 2-3 cubs. Cubs remain with mother for 15-24 months.

19. Mountain Lions will often stalk their prey. They can jump 15 to 20 feet vertically and 30-45 feet horizontally. Primarily hunt at dawn and dusk.

20. A cougar needs to eat one deer each week or eat 450 mice each day.

21. The cougar’s main meal is deer, but they eat small animals too such as ground squirrels, beavers, and rabbits.

22. Remember that Mountain Lions are 7-8 feet long. Watch how it is moving like a cat.  Remember that Mountain Lions are “concolor” -no spots or stripes. 

23. Cougars can jump across a city street in one try!

24. Baby cougars have spots when they are young, but lose them at an older age. 

25. When hunting, cougar mothers hide their babies in a den. 

26. Typically the cougar will kill its prey with a bite to the lower neck, which suffocates the prey. 

27. After making a kill a cougar will often take the carcass to the base of a tree and cover it with soil, leaves or snow, saving it to feed on later.