Mountain Lions
Also known as: Cougars/ Pumas/ Mountain Cats/ Catamounts/ Panthers
Scientific Name: Puma concolor
Habitat
Mountain lions live in Canada, the United States, South America, Mexico, and Central America. They live up in mountains or cliffs, hence the name "mountain" lions. Mountain lions, however, do not stay permanently in their caves. They only find temporary shelter since they migrate to follow the deer and pray.
Diet
Mountain lions eat a range of things, such as raccoons, bears, elk, deer, bison, squirrels, and chipmunks. They are good hunters, and often go for prey that is way to big for them, like bears and bison. They are rarely known to attack humans, unless personally disturbed by them.
Description
Mountain lions are about twice the size of a domestic cat, and they have the same short hair. Their coats are two main colors, those colors being tan an tawny. They have massive paws with strong, sharp claws and they also have sharp teeth, both used for hunting. They have small round ears and almond shaped eyes that all have bright yellow irises. Their scientific family name means "cat of one color", but their colors very from the two that were listed above. They also live a solitary lifestyle and are called by many different names. They are pretty common and their population is kept in control by other bigger predators killing them when fighting over prey.
Types
Mountain lions, or whatever name you want to call them by, don't have any different species, just a lot of subspecies. There are the Argentine puma, Costa Rican Cougar, the North American cougar, the Northern South American cougar, and the Southern South American cougar.
Fun Facts
- The mountain lion is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most names. It's all the same animal, but these are the names its called mountain lions, cougars, pumas, panthers, mountain cats, and catamounts.
- Mountain lions are pretty agile. They can leap up to 20 feet!
- Mountain lion cubs look very different than the adults. Their coats are either tawny or tan, but they have black spots too.
- Mountain lions are the heaviest cats in the world, but they're the fourth biggest.
- When a leopard and a cougar (or mountain lion) mate and have children, they're called pumapards. That's a funny name, huh?