COUGARS

The mysterious and elusive cougar is one of the most feared and misunderstood predators in our prairie province to date. The cougar is known by many names throughout western Canada, but probably the most known is the “Mountain Lion”. Other names are Deer Tiger, Indian Devil, Puma and Panther. All these names are one of the same species, the Puma concolor.

Next to the jaguar, the cougar is the largest cat in the world. Adult males average 125 pounds and just above two meters in length, but can grow to be 150 pounds and 3 meters from nose to tip of tail. An adult female averages 100 pounds with a length of just below two meters. The body of an adult cougar is covered with a coat of short reddish-brown to grey-brown fur and a whitish underbelly, neck, chin, and front upper lip. The cougar's head is fairly small relative to its body and the short round ears sit atop of the head, standing at attention. Well-developed whiskers grow from each side of the upper lip where there is a little bit of black fur. Other areas of the body where there is blackened fur are behind the ears and on the tip of the long round tail which is used for balance. The teeth of a cougar are specially adapted for cutting meat and tendons. The exceptionally strong jaw muscles provide plenty of power for clamping down on prey larger than itself.

The paws of the cougar differ from forepaw to hind paw. The forepaw is larger than the hind paw which is an adaptation for clutching large prey. Like all cats there are four digits on the forepaw and five digits on the hind paw. Tracks of a cougar rarely show the claws for they are retracted until in need, such as traction, climbing, or in an attack. The track of a cougar is, on average, 8 cm x 8 cm (3.2” x 3.2”), average straddle is a width of 20 cm (8”) and the stride average is approximately 40 cm to 50 cm (16” to 20”). In winter a very distinct feature of the cougar is tail markings left in the snow.
There are no set mating seasons for the cougar but young are usually born in the midsummer months. Females are known to become very vocal when in heat and have been seen and heard yowling. Sexual maturity is reached at around 2 ½ years of age for females and 3 years for males. Males will have more than one mate depending on his range size. The larger the range, the more females he will be able to breed for a male usually attempts to keep breeding rights with the females in his range.
Litters of cougars are produced every 18 to 24 months. In a litter there may be one to six kittens, which are cared for by the female who feeds and teaches them how to hunt. Males have been known to eat the young; therefore the female fends off male cougars until the kittens are grown into young sub adults and are ready to venture off on their own. Kittens are spotted at birth with dark brown over a light brown coat. Their spots disappear gradually over time, usually at the end of the first year, and their blue eyes change to a greenish-yellow or yellowish-brown by 16 months of age. At the age of one or two the sub adult cougar is ready to leave the litter, but they will still have a difficult time when they first set out; therefore litter mates may travel and hunt together a few months after leaving the mother. Adult cougars are solitary animals and travel alone unless they are mating or if the kittens are accompanying the mother.

Over the years cougars were poisoned, snared, trapped and hunted with dogs and rifles. Fifty-dollar bounties were also added in order to decrease the cougar population for fear of losing livestock and the occasional human life. The cougar is a carnivore at the top of the food chain whose only predator is man. Hunting is the most common cause of death - hounds are used to force the cougar up a tree where it is then shot. Cougars frequently kill prey larger than themselves. Therefore, they are more prone to serious injury such as broken ribs, legs, or back.

The cougar's habitat, also suitable for white-tailed deer and mule deer, provides cover such as thick vegetation and irregular terrain. This elusive and solitary predator camouflages very well in the right habitat and can stalk prey to within a few lightening fast leaps, catching the prey by total and utter surprise. A shelter may be a cave or even a pile of windfall trees.

The right habitat is key in order to provide them with enough food sources to survive. Dusk or dawn is the usual time that a cougar will be actively hunting. Using sight, hearing, and smell, cougars prey upon large game, such as, white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou and calves of moose and elk. An adult cougar is capable of taking down a 600 pound moose or elk, but their favorite food is deer. Being an opportunistic animal the cougar will even prey upon mammals and birds as small as mice. Domestic animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and horses are also taken when opportunistic. It is very rare for a cougar to scavenge for food that is found dead or discarded. When a cougar kills its prey it will feed until full, then cover the rest of the uneaten carcass with litter only to be uncovered again when ready to feed at a later time. The cougar will usually stay in the vicinity of the kill until the carcass is completely consumed.

Unlike the coyote, another predator of domestic animals, the cougar kills its prey most often by breaking the animal's neck or by means of suffocation, where it uses its powerful jaw muscles and sharp canine teeth to clamp down on the throat of the animal. On average, adult male cougar needs to only consume up to 20 deer to survive for that year, but they usually consume, on average, up to 40 deer. Females consume on average up to 20 deer and if they have a litter, as many as 100 deer may be taken to survive.

Taking large game by surprise, the cougar leaps on the back of the prey clamping down on the back of the neck with its canines and clutching around the animals ribcage with its massive forepaws sinking the claws into flesh making sure there is no escape. This is when the animal falls and the cougar places its focus on the jugular, suffocating the animal with its powerful bite. A cougar can also break the neck of its prey when it is on the animal's back by forcing the head back with its forepaws while continuing to clamp down on the back of the neck. Deer can be killed by a single crushing bite to the base of the skull. Small animals usually die of a broken neck due to the strength of the cougar's bite. Even though the cougar is an evasive and solitary animal that usually avoids contact with humans, there are rare times that contact with this animal will happen. Most often the cougar will only be seen at a distance and will be just passing through the area.

There are definitely cougars in our province, but this does not mean that cougars and humans cannot coexist. With the proper knowledge and respect for this animal there is no need to fear its existence. In the rare occurrence of a problem cougar, Conservation Officers are well equipped to assess and handle the situation. The cougar is here to stay and we, as individuals, have to respect the cougar's way of life. 

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