The cougar is known by many names including the panther, catamount, and mountain lion.  Although once found throughout much of North America, cougars are now absent from many regions where they were once common, including western North Carolina.

DESCRIPTION

Cougars are large, muscular cats.  They average seven to nine feet in total length, of which up to a third is tail, and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds when full grown.  An adult cougar is tan colored with black coloration on the sides of its muzzle, the back of the ears, and the tip of the tail.  Cougar kittens are mottled with black spots and have ringed tails until they are about 6 months old.

HABITS AND HABITATS

Cougars are secretive, solitary hunters that feed primarily on white-tailed deer but will also eat smaller game such as opossums, rabbits, mice, and even insects if food supplies are limited.  Cougars are skilled night hunters with excellent eyesight and superb hearing.  They run swiftly, are agile climbers, and can even swim.  Rather than simply chasing after their food, cougars prefer stalking their prey at close range, utilizing the element of surprise.  At the last moment, a cougar may leap as far as 20 feet or more onto the animal’s back.  Strong jaws and long canine teeth then make it possible for cougars to kill their prey with one bite to the nape of the neck.  After an initial feeding, a cougar may cover the carcass with leaves or other debris to be saved for a later meal.  Cougars begin breeding at about three years of age and may mate during any season.  Typical litters of one to six kittens are born after a gestation period of 82 to 98 days.  Their eyes open in eight or nine days and the young are weaned in two to three months, though the kittens may remain with the mother into the second year.  Cougars can occupy a variety of habitats from coastal swamps to mountain slopes.  These large predators require extensive, undisturbed forested areas that also support adequate white-tailed deer populations.

HISTORY

Cougars were eliminated from most of eastern North America by the turn of the century due to habitat  destruction, the decline of their main food supply—the white-tailed deer, and uncontrolled hunting and trapping.  Cougars are still fairly abundant in some of the sparsely populated western states.  Today the only know cougar species still found in eastern North America is the Florida Panther.  They survive as a small remnant population in the remote, thickly wooded swamps of south Florida.  It is thought that the Eastern Cougar, the species native to the southern Appalachian region, is now extinct in the wild.  Although the last known cougars disappeared from our area during the 1800s, occasional, unconfirmed sightings are reported.  Most of these sightings turn out to be other animals but some may be valid.  It is possible, however that these may be Western Cougars which have escaped or been released from captivity.  Investigations are currently underway to determine the true status of this animal in our area.  The cougar is officially listed as an endangered species in North Carolina.  Since white-tailed deer, a primary food source for the cougar have made a dramatic comeback, perhaps the cougar will soon follow.

MEET OUR COUGAR

The Nature Center is home to one female cougar. She was confiscated from an individual who was keeping her illegally as a pet. She is a hybrid Western/South American Cougar, and came to us as a seven-week-old kitten in 1990. Because she was kept as a pet when young, she has been imprinted on people. Imprinted animals lack survival skills, do not fear people, and cannot be released in the wild. Still, our cougar is a wild animal with deeply ingrained predatory instincts.  Attempts by people to make pets out of animals like her usually fail and should be strongly discouraged.  If you like our cougar and find her particularly fascinating, you can support her by participating in our “Adopt an Animal” Program through the Friends of the Nature Center!

INFORMATION LINKS

World Wild Cats

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©2002 WNC Nature Center