The cougar is a member of the Felidae family of big cats and can be found in a wide range of habitats. It has so many houses, with many names, for the area in question. Leo, Lion, Leopard, Catamount, Panther and Mercury (sorry to see if you’re paying attention) are just a few names of this big cat. According to Bigcatrescue.org, there are only 334 Cougars in the world, 119 being in the United States.
Cougar lives
The cougar has the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere other than humans. They can be found from Canada to the Andes mountains in South America and all points in between. However, the animals are very solitary and difficult not to be seen by man. And man destroying the home of the Cougar drove him further and further into the deep wilderness.
Cougars live in many places with thick brush, but they can adapt and live almost anywhere, even deserts. They like the brush to sneak up on animals or ambush their meal.
Cougar Habits
Cougars are very solitary animals that only come together to mate or to fight in their territory. Males tend to have large signs of urination, thirst, and scratching. Males and females include their territory and females. However, two males will not willingly share part of their territory with another male. They can be vocal and even purr like your house puppies.
Females tend to have small babies every year and have them in their beds. They have between 1 and 6 per litter. the puppies nurse until about 3 months but before that they will eat food. They leave their mother around 2 years and usually stick with their brothers and sisters for a few months.
Cougars are perhaps the most robust of the big cats. He easily jumped 15 feet into the trees. And they can run through rocky mountain with agile grace. When there is no other choice, they are strong swimmers, but rather do not get wet.
Cougars like large prey, and their staple is deer. However, beavers, coyotes, rabbits, coos and any other small prey will occasionally eat insects. Sometimes people will take it for prey, but this is rare. Most Cougar attacks on people come from people too close to big cats. This is unfortunately happening more and more with people refusing to bring a Cougar into their habitat. Cougars seem to sneak up on prey and pounce. A cougar will go for the neck when it attacks.
The main enemy of Cougars is man, as with most wild animals. It’s mostly habitat destruction, but hunting of cougars is allowed in 14 states, according to Cougarfund.org. They also say that nearly half of the cougars killed by hunters are female, leaving behind young cougars that are starving. Check out the above site if you are interested in making a donation to help protect large animals. Thanks for reading this and any other articles on Associatedcontent.com.
