Title :

Mountain Lion

Category: North American Mammals

Facts about Mountain Lion, "Scientific name for Mountain Lion is Felis concolor". Mountain Lion is a Puma variety of cat that comes from the Felidae family. The Mountain Lions hail from the United States, and they are the greatest of any big wild earthly animal in the Western Hemisphere. They are flexible, generalist varieties, and the Mountain Lion can be seen in nearly all American home areas. Mountain Lion is the second heaviest and the largest cat after the jaguar in the New World. The Mountain Lion is more closely associated with smaller felines, as well as the domestic cat. The Mountain Lions are called by other names, such as puma, cougar, catamount and panther. They are mostly found in all types of forests, including lowland and hilly deserts. Usually, the Mountain Lions prefer regions with thick underbrush, but they can also survive with little plants in open areas. Their favorite homes comprise precipitous canyons, rim rocks, escarpments and dense brush.

Features of Mountain Lion

A Mountain Lion is a big-size cat, and a well matured cat is capable of attaining a body length, ranging from 3 feet 5 inches (1.06 meters) to 5 feet 5 inches (1.67 meters) , with the tail length between 2 feet and 2 feet 5 inches. Male Mountain Lions are heavier than the females, with a body mass that ranges from 110 pounds (50 kg) to 180 pounds (82 kg).

Mountain Lions have influential limbs and can jump as far as 40 feet (12 meter) and as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters). Apart from humans, no animal preys upon a mature Mountain Lion in the wild, even though conflicts with other scavengers or predators occur.

Though the Mountain Lion is capable of sprinting, the cat is usually an ambush killer. It stalks through trees and brushes, across protrusions, or other sheltered spots, earlier than delivering a powerful jump onto the rear of its prey, with a suffocating neck bite. The Mountain Lion is competent to break the neck of its smaller victim with a powerful bite and momentum, tolerating the animal to the earth.

Usually, Kills are estimated at about one huge ungulate once in two weeks. The time shrinks for female Mountain Lions raising juvenile, and may be as petite as one kill once in three days when cubs are almost mature at about 15 months. The Mountain Lion pulls a kill to a favorite spot, wraps it with brush, and returns to nourish over a period of days. Generally, the Mountain Lion is not a scavenger, and will seldom eat prey it has not slaughtered.

Diet of Mountain Lion

Mostly, Mountain lions feed on big animals such as deer, and smaller creatures such as squirrels, mice, porcupines, rabbits, raccoons and beavers.

Behavior of Mountain Lion

A Mountain Lion is a solitary animal, and it is extremely territorial and vigorously shuns other cats except at the time of courtship. Their ranges can differ in size from 10 square miles (25.9 sq km) to 370 square miles (958 sq km) such that female Mountain Lions are inclined to have smaller ranges than male cats. The Mountain Lions are vigorous hunters and may trek long distances to look for food. They hunt unaccompanied and after slaughtering their prey, they will conceal and leave it, returning to eat it when hungry.

Reproduction of Mountain Lion

The mating season in Mountain Lions commences from December and continue up to March, but can take place at any time of the year. Usually, the gestation period ranges from 82 days to 96 days, with the litter size of 2 to 4 kittens and the kittens are raised by the mother Mountain Lion. The mother Mountain Lion nurses the kittens for two months, and then the juveniles start to trek with their mother during which the mother trains them in hunting. Kittens will stay with their mother from 1 to 2 years. Males that go into the territory of another male have been recognized to slaughter the kittens, so female Mountain Lions will be more eager to mate.

The average lifespan of the Mountain Lion ranges from 10 years to 12 years in the wild, whereas in the captive they live up to 25 years.