The cougar is a mammal, belonging to the family Felidae, is a large solitary cat that is native to the Americas. It is related to the smaller domestic felines, even though it is considered the second heaviest cat in the Americas after the jaguar. The cougar is also known as puma, panther, catamount, mountain lion or mountain cat.
Habitat
The cougar inhabits areas of dense underbrush and rocky areas, which provide good environments for stalking prey. Cougars are territorial by instinct and live sparsely from each other. However, cougars can also inhabit open areas and almost every major American habitat type.
Physical characteristics
The cougar is the fourth largest cat with adults having a height of 60 to 76 centimeters from feet to shoulders, and a length of 1.5 to .2.75 metres from nose to tail. Male cougars weigh about 53 to 100 kilograms with an average weight of 62 kilograms. Females weigh between 29 and 64 kilograms, averaging 42 kilograms.
Cougars have a powerful jaw and forequarter which allows them to grasp and hold onto their prey. They have five retractable claws on their front paw and four and on their back paws. Cougars have the largest hind legs in the cat family which allows them to leap an exceptional 5.4 metres. They can run as fast as 55 km/h to 72 km/h but they are best at short sprints rather than long chases. Cougars are able to climb and also swim, but only when necessary.
The cougar is unable to roar but like domestic cats, it releases low-pitched hissing sounds, purrs, grows, chirps and whistles and also screams.
Cougars are plain in colouring, generally a tawny coloured coat but can range from silvery-grey to reddish with light patches on various body parts.
Hunting and diet
Cougars are termed “generalist predators”, meaning, they will eat any animal that they acquire, from insects to larger hooved animals such as deers, elk and moose. They will even hunt livestock such as horses, cattle and sheep. Even though they are able to sprint, cougars tend to ambush their predator. Upon spotting a potential prey, the cougar will stalk through trees, brush, ledges or any other covered spot. The cougar would leap onto the back of its prey and deliver a suffocating neck bite, killing its prey. Once the cougar has secured its prey, it would drag the carcass to a preferred spot and return over a period of several days to feed.
Reproduction
Females reproduce once every 2-3 years and are the sole parent of the cubs. They are ferociously protective of their cubs and will fight off predators as big as the grizzly bear to protect their litter. A litter tends to consist of one to six cubs, averaging two to three.
Attacks on humans
Cougars do not generally prey on humans however, due to human expansion into cougar habitat, attacks on humans have increased over the years. Attacks on humans usually occur when the cougar has undergone a period of severe starvation or carried out by a cougar who has recently left its mother.