by Joyce Kennedy Chicos

Cougars, mountain lions, pumas, and panthers are all the same species, which is known to scientists as Felis Concolor.  This animal is one of only three wild felids (the general name for any member of the cat family) native to the US.  It is larger than the other two, the bocat and the lynx, and has a much longer tail.

 

 

The cougar is the second largest cat in the New World.  Like all cats, it has a lithe, muscular, compact, and deep-chested body, with a rounded and shortened head.  Its whiskers are well developed and its eyes are large.  One of the cougar's distinctive characteristics is its long tail which is useful for balance.
Cougars vary considerably in size and weight. Among all races, adult males typically weigh 1.4 times more than females. Total body lengths of adult male cougars are slightly more than 2m, and adult females are slightly less than 2m.
The North American cougar's normal color is reddish tawny or tawny grey to dark chocolate brown. The backs of the ears and the tip of the tail are black, and there are black markings on the face. The kittens are spotted at birth, but the spots disappear before the end of their first year.
Like all members of the cat family, cougars have five digits on the forepaw and four on the hindpaw. Each digit is equipped with a claw, which the cougar sheathes while walking, but which it uses with deadly effectiveness when grasping its prey. The front feet and claws are larger than their counterparts in the rear.

Cougars hunt mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose calves where they are available, although as opportunistic predators, they eat many other species of mammals and birds. In some areas, cougars prey on bighorn sheep. When mountain lions hunt smaller mammals, they take porcupine, beaver, coyote, snowshoe hare, and ground squirrels. Like all cats, mountain lions hunt more by sight and hearing than by scent. They stalk their prey to within two or three great leaps and then launch a lightning-fast charge that ends with the cougar striking the prey with the full impact of the charge and bearing it to the ground. Mountain lions are extremely elusive and usually avoid direct contact with people. Masters of camouflage, they often remain hidden when approached closely on foot. While tracking a cougar one winter day, a researcher stepped within 1m of its hiding place beneath a large spruce tree, before the cat exploded from beneath it, heading away. Tracks in the snow are usually the only sign of the passage of the rarely seen cougar.