Home » Plants & Animals » Wild Cats » Cougar - Puma Concolor

Cougar - Puma Concolor

© Josie Shadwell

Cougar, mountain lion, puma, panther, mountain devil, sneak cat, painter, wildcat, deer tiger, mountain screamer, brown tiger, catamount, silver lion, Indian devil, purple feather, and king cat, which name do you know it by? It's all the same cat, and exclusive to North America.

Class : Mammalia (mammals) Order : Carnivora (meat-eaters) Family : Felidae (cat family) Genus : Felis Species : Felis concolor

So many names for this efficient stalker and killer. It has a terrifying call that sounds like a human scream. Imagine being in the mountains at night, hearing that scream, and then nothing! This large predator can grow to 8 feet in length for the males and 6 feet in length for the females. How can it vanish into thin air? The answer to that lays in the coloration of an adult cougar's coat. The tawny coloring helps it blend in with its surroundings so that it is difficult to see. It has patches of white and black fur just below the nose, with black fur on its ears and tip of its tail. Coat length and color variation are dictated by climate and habitat conditions. It also has broad, heavy paws with a leathery pad on the bottom of each toe and at the base of each paw. These pads muffle the sound of the cougar's footsteps. Each front foot has four toes and a thumb, while each back foot has four toes. Each of these toes has a very sharp, curved claw. Each toe has a little pocket and to move silently these claws are pulled into these little pockets. But if it wants to climb a tree or hold its prey, the claws pop out and give the cougar a good grip. Stealth is one of the main hunting skills of the cougar. The cougar normally stalks and then ambushes its prey. It will burst from concealment in two or three great leaps and seize its prey before it can escape. To help the cougar with this method of hunting are his powerful hind legs. Both pairs of legs are long and muscular which give it lots of leaping power. The back legs are slightly longer than the front ones. The cougar will gather his hind legs up under him and then spring forward, sometimes covering a distance of 23 feet (7 metres) at once. For balance, the cougar uses his thick, heavy tail as a rudder. While the cougar can run fast for short distances, it tires quickly, therefore ambush is necessary to get a meal.

The copyright of the article Cougar - Puma Concolor in Wild Cats is owned by Josie Shadwell. Permission to republish Cougar - Puma Concolor in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.