Mountain Lion Info
Genus & Species: Felis Concolor
Height: To shoulder, 24-28 in.
Length: Body 1-1.6m (3 1/4- 5 1/4ft).
Tail: 60-85cm (23 1/2- 33 1/2in).
Weight: 80-230 Ibs.
Cub Weight at Birth: 400 - 500 grames
Sexual maturity: Males, at least 3 years. Females, 2 years.
Mating season: Year-round. Females usually breed once every 2 years.
Gestation: 90-96 days.
Litter Size: 2-6, usually 3-4.
Habit: Solitary, generally hunt at dawn and dusk, but active by day in areas undisturbed by man.
Diet: Mainly deer, most wild animals.
Lifespan: Up to 18 years.
Speed: 40 - 50 mph.
Number in the wild: 30,000
Until the late 1980s, as many as 32 subspecies were recorded; however, a recent genetic study of mitochondrial DNA found many of these are too similar to be recognized as distinct at a molecular level. Following the research, the canonical Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.) recognizes six subspecies, five of which are solely found in Latin America:
1. Argentine cougar (Puma concolor cabrerae) Pocock, 1940:includes the previous subspecies and synonyms hudsonii and puma
2. Costa Rican cougar (P. c. costaricensis) Merriam, 1901
3. Eastern South American cougar (P. c. anthonyi) Nelson and Goldman, 1931:includes the previous subspecies and synonyms acrocodia, borbensis, capricornensis, concolor, greeni, and nigra
4. North American cougar (P. c. couguar) Kerr, 1792:includes the previous subspecies and synonyms arundivaga, aztecus, browni, californica, floridana, hippolestes, improcera, kaibabensis, mayensis, missoulensis, olympus, oregonensis, schorgeri, stanleyana, vancouverensis, and youngi
5. Northern South American cougar (P. c. concolor) Linnaeus, 1771:includes the previous subspecies and synonyms bangsi, incarum, osgoodi, soasoaranna, sussuarana, soderstromii, suçuaçuara, and wavula
6.Southern South American cougar (P. c. puma) Molina, 1782:includes the previous subspecies and synonyms araucanus, concolor, patagonica, pearsoni, and puma
7. Florida panther (P. c. coryi)
The status of the Florida panther remains uncertain. It is still regularly listed as subspecies P. c. coryi in research works, including those directly concerned with its conservation.Culver et al. noted low microsatellite variation in the Florida panther, possibly due to inbreeding responding to the research, one conservation team suggests, "the degree to which the scientific community has accepted the results of Culver et al. and the proposed change in taxonomy is not resolved at this time.
Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and generally hunt at dawn and dusk. Still, they are active by day in areas undisturbed by man.
Like other cats, the mountain lion stalks its prey, sprinting after it if it attempts to flee. Then, pouncing on the animal's back with a powerful leap that knocks it to the ground, the mountain lion kills its prey with a single bite to the nape of the neck.
Mountain lions have large hunting territories, and they eat most kinds of animals. Throughout their range, however, deer is their principal food. In the absence of deer, they eat anything available, including cattle and other domestic livestock.
Mountain lions can run very fast over short distances, but they tire quickly. If an animal survives a mountain lion's first attack, it generally escapes. Mountain lions rarely share hunting territories and usually avoid each other, but they make no attempt to defend their own territories or take over those of others.
Mountain lions are found in habitats as diverse as the cold, northern woods of Canada, the rocky, western country of the United States, and the
tropical rainforests of Brazil. In Argentina, they live in the pampas, and their range extends to the southernmost tip of South America.
Instead of occupying a permanent den, mountain lions rest and find shelter in caves, among rocky outcrops, and in dense vegetation. They generally migrate from the mountains in winter to follow deer and other prey.
The territories of male mountain lions may overlap those of females, enabling the males to detect when the females are ready to mate.
During a 14-day period of mating, a male and female will break their normally solitary habits to hunt together and sleep next to each other. The female later gives birth to two to six kittens in a carefully hidden den, located between rocks or in a cave.
Blind at birth, the
kittens have spotted coats until they are six months old. They begin to take meat provided by their mother at six weeks, while they are still suckling. Although they can hunt for themselves after nine months, they usually remain with their mother for two years. The
cubs then leave her and may stay together for several months before wandering off to establish territories
of their own.
Once common across the western hemisphere, the mountain lion has been eradicated in many areas, and its survival is threatened.
In some areas, mountain lions were wiped out in an attempt to protect deer populations. But eliminating a natural predator disrupted the balance of the environment. Consequently, the deer multiplied rapidly, and their habitat was unable to support the large population.
• Mountain lion tracks appear round, are approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter, and the claw marks usually are not visible.
• Droppings are 4 to 6 inches in length and 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter, cylindrical, and blunt on the ends. Droppings often have hair and bone fragments visible. They are often covered with dirt.
• Cached prey items are a sign that a lion has been in the area and may return again to feed on the cached food.
• Lions often leave vertical claw marks on trees, stumps, or fence posts, 4 to 8 feet above the ground.
• Lions make a variety of calls or vocalizations. They include: hiss, purr, mew, growl, yowl, chirp and cry.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A MOUNTAIN LION?Mountain lions are generally calm, quiet, and elusive. They tend to live in remote, primitive country with plentiful deer and adequate cover. Such conditions exist in mountain subdivisions, urban fringes, and open spaces. Recently, the number of mountain lion/human interactions has increased. This increase is likely due to a variety of reasons, such as:
There's been very little research on how to avoid mountain lion attacks. But mountain lion attacks that have occurred are being analyzed in the hope that some crucial questions can be answered: Did the victim do something to iandvertently provoke an attack? What should a person who is approached by a mountain lion do -- or not do?
The mountain lion is renowned for its remarkable power, stamina, and agility. It can easily cover 23 ft. in a single bound, and a leap of twice this distance has been recorded.
Often taking cover in the dense foliage of a tree, a mountain lion can leap up to a height of 18ft to land in the branches. It may then climb upward, looking for a suitable Vantage point. it can drop 65 ft to the ground without injuring itself.
The FWC Is Interested In Photos of The Florida Panthers Or Their Tracks.
Anyone Lucky Enough To Capture This Large Cat On Camera
Is Encouraged To Submit The Picture & Sighting Location To: http://www.MyFWC.com/PantherSightings
If Your In The California AreaYou Can Report And View Mountain Lion & BobCat Sightings From The Map Below: http://www.bapp.org/puma-sighting-map"
Once a rodent ingests the rat poison from a bait box it takes couple days for that rodent to die from it, but before that rodent dies it ends up being eaten by our hawks, owls, bobcats and even river otters, which they end up being eaten by larger wildlife such as cayotes, bobcats and our mountain lions. Our Santa Monica Mountain lions that have been tagged monitored and studied for years by scientists have all been directly affected by rat poisons succumbing to a very Horrific deaths as the main poison Anticoagulant Rodenticide causes them to bleed out to death. As of March 2019 our mountain lions are on the verge of extinction.
As much as 90 percent of the mountain lions in California may have been exposed to deadly anticoagulant rat poisons. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation is looking into changing regulations on the poison’s use. 88 percent of tested bobcats and 85 percent of tested protected Pacific fishers. It also found that seven out of 10 endangered Northern spotted owls and 40 percent of tested barred owls had been exposed to the poison.
There are other ways to deal with rodents, including rodent-proofing homes and yards, eliminating food sources that attract rats, using traps and encouraging the natural predation of rats by installing owl boxes.
Florida panthers are a subspecies of the mountain lion. They are large, tan cats—their bodies are mainly covered in tawny-beige fur, except for the whitish-gray belly and chest. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout.
The main way to tell a Florida panther from other subspecies of mountain lion is by looking at the tail and back. Florida panthers have a crooked tail and a unique patch of fur on the back. The back fur is almost like a cowlick, not conforming to the rest of the panther’s fur. Florida panthers are about six to seven feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters) long, with males growing bigger than females.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast, but now their habitat mostly is confined to a small region of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. Up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild.
Habitat loss and fragmentation are the major threats to panther survival. Roadway mortality, which limits range expansion, is the largest human cause of panther deaths and lack of landowner acceptance can threaten recovery. The small size and high degree of isolation of the panther population makes it vulnerable to genetic problems and catastrophic events such as disease, parasite outbreaks and exposure to toxins.
|
|
|
|
| Black Leopard Pics | Cub Pics | Yawning And Roaring Pics | More Big Cat Pics | Animated Gifs | Big Cat Drawings |
| More Tiger Pics |More Lion Pics | Big Cat Sounds | TLK Fan Art Sites | Postcard Sites | My Links Page | Other Lion Links | Sanctuarie Links |
| Cat Facts | Awards Won | Win My Award | List Of Cat Species | Linking Back To Here | Just 4 Kids | Big Kitty Quiz | Lake Applet Links |
| Big Cat Movies | Big Cat Cams | Big Cat Books |Search Engines | Big Cat Humor | Endangered Cats | Big Cats As Pets | Collective Nouns |
| Smaller Cat Pics | Games | Big Cat ASCII Art | Big Cat Attacks | Extinct Big Cats | Help The Big Cats | Links Page 2 | Small Cat Info | African Lion Info |
White Lion Info | White Tiger Info | Cheetah Info | Leopard Info | Black Leopard Info | Snow Leopard Info | Jaguar Info | Mountain Lion info | Siberian Tiger Info |
Bengal Tiger Info | Indo Chinese Tiger Info | South China Tiger Info | Sumatran Tiger Info | Malayan Tiger info | Golden Tabby Tiger Info | Liger & Tigon Info |
Tiger Parts N Asian Medicine Trade | Big Cat Poetry | Unlikely Animal Friends |