Mountain Lion

Also known as

Cougar, puma, catamount, Florida panther, panther, painter, lion, Mexican lion, mountain demon, mountain devil, mountain screamer, brown tiger, red tiger, deer killer, Indian devil, purple feather (?!), king cat, sneak cat, and varmint (Kitchner 1991).

What is the scientific name?

Felis concolor

• Pronounced FEE-lis CON-color
• What does it mean? "One-color cat." Felis is the Latin word for "cat." Concolor is Latin for "of the same color." This is in reference to the fact that the mountain lion does not have any conspicuous markings and is, more or less, all one color.

Where are they located? How many subspecies are there?

Mountain lions are found almost exclusively in the west, although they once were found all over the United States. They range from British Columbia and southern Alberta south to western Wyoming, California and west Texas. They are also found in south Texas, Louisiana, south Alabama, Tennessee and south Florida (Whitaker 1980). There are 30 subspecies of mountain lion and 13 of them exist in North America, north of Mexico. They are: F.c. couguar, F.c. missoulensis, F.c. hippolestes, F.c. vancouverensis, F.c. olympus, F.c. californica, F.c. kaibabensis, F.c. browni, F.c. improcera, F.c. azteca, F.c. stanleyana, F.c. coryi. F.c. oregonensis occurs in Oregon (Hall 1991).

Where do they live?

The mountain lion's natural habitat is quite diverse. It can live in forests, swamps, grasslands, and even dry brushy country. Their territory is limited only by adequate shelter and an abundance of their favorite prey, deer (Nowak 1991; Dixon 1982).

What do they look like?

Large and slender with a long tail. The color of the fur ranges from a slate gray to a reddish brown. The undersides and lower lip are whitish. The back of the ears and tip of the tail are blackish.

How big are they?

Males average a length of 7½ feet and females average about 6½ feet (Dixon 1982). Males weigh between 121 and 200 pounds, females between 74 and 176 pounds (Currier 1983; Dixon 1982).

How long do they live?

Uncertain. Captive mountain lions have lived to be over 20 years old (Nowak 1991).

What do they eat?

Almost exclusively deer. Three items make up between 86 to 100% of the mountain lion's diet: Deer, porcupines, and grass. Other animals eaten are elk, skunks, beavers, and rabbits (Dixon 1982).

Interesting notes: The mountain lion once had the greatest natural distribution of all the mammals in the Western Hemisphere, excepting humans. They were found from northern Canada down to southern Chile and from coast to coast (Nowak 1991). Mountain lions are solitary animals, coming into contact with one another usually only during the breeding season. For this reason they require isolated or relatively undisturbed wilderness for survival. It is this requirement, unfortunately, that have led mountain lions to disappear from their original habitat. As humans have spread and developed wilderness areas, mountain lions have sought refuge in the mountains. They are so solitary that even when they mate the union only lasts a few days (Currier 1983; Whitaker, 1981).

Mountain lions have the ability to jump up to 18 to 20 feet from the ground to a tree limb or rock ledge (Nowak 1991; Whitaker 1980). They are also fairly good swimmers, but like most cats, would rather stay out of the water (Nowak 1991).

It is estimated that mountain lions require anywhere from one deer every 16 days, for a single adult, to one deer every three days for a female with large cubs (Nowak 1991). While porcupines make up a good proportion of the mountain lion's diet, it is not known why they take chances with these dangerous little pincushions (Dixon 1982).