In this article we are going to address if a cougar is a mountain lion. The species of cougar are known for their long list of names which they have not given themselves. As a matter of fact, the species of cougar has a Guinness World Record for having a long list of names and in fact for having the most names when compared to other animals.
They are mostly referred to as cats, not just a mere cat, but as a cat of (many other animals of the cat family) some call it the puma, the panther, the mountain cat, the mountain lion, the mountain screamer, the painter, the catamount, and so many other names to mention a few.
In fact, when compared to other animals, the different species of cougar have more monikers than any animal existing anywhere in the world, whether it be a mammal or not. It has about forty alone in English and this is largely because the name used sometimes is dependent on the location and there are various locations too.
Take for an instance, when you visit the Incas, they call the species of cougar puma, the in some part of Europe, it is called the animal panther, which is derived from the generic term that is given to any species of large cat that has a coat with a very solid or pronounced colour.
During the period when they were a lot of Italian explorers as well as the Spanish explorers, the Spanish explorers call the cougar mountain lion; a name the Spanish explorers coined from the word leon which means lion, and from the word gato monte which means cat of the mountain. So, from calling it a lion and a cat of the mountain they named it the mountain lion. Meanwhile, the name cougar is derived from the old South American Indian word cuguacuarana, and the letters of this Indian word were shortened to cuguar, after the deduction of the alphabets, they began to spell it differently, and that is how the word as well as the name “cougar’ came to be.
Regardless of the variations in name, or whatever the cougar is called anywhere, judging from its appearance, it is still the same cat, that has the binomial name Puma concolor, although the binomial name or scientific name was equally changed from the Felis concolor few years ago. More so, the various species of cougar is known to be the biggest species among the species of small cats.
However, the various species of cougar can be in different locations especially because of their ability to properly adapt to any environment and to the changes that come with these environments or in new environments that they find themselves in.
More so, the various species of cougar are very skillful animals with very active receptors. For instance, they think very fast, in appearance they have a powerful muscular body, they have very sharp eyesight, they have very sharp and active hearing, the various species of the cougar are excellent swimmers, they know how to climb trees, and they are very skillful jumpers as they jump through long distances. So, with a variety of features and abilities, they are able to adapt to every kind of environment.
This species of cat can thrives through different places and so inhabit different places. For instance, the species of cougar inhabit the Southern Andes, a place in South America the species also inhabit the Yukon, a place in Canada, they inhabit the western part of the united states, they inhabit parts of Florida, Texas and the border of Canada. In fact, the various species of the cougar inhabits the open forests as well as open areas with a large vast of vegetation.
Are There Possible or Seeming Differences Between the Cougars and the Mountain Lions?
As much as I am in a hurry to share or to answer the question in this section, I will really like for you to read through and figure out if the answer is a no, or if the answer to the question is a yes.
The species of cougar and the species of the mountain lions are both species of cats, although they have different appearances in size which is as a result of their geographical location, which affects their diet, as well as the climate they survive in and the other difference is in the different names that they are called in different places.
For instance, most creatures or species of animals in places like Florida, or the Southeastern Part of the United States, are usually smaller than the same species of animals in an entire different country or environment.
Apart from the difference that geographical locations bring the species of cougar, the various species of cougar have quite slender bodies, the shape of the head of the cougar is round, by the side of its head are very erect or straight ears, the various species of cougar have a pronounced coat that is kind of tawny in colour (this explains how the species of cougar got the name “concolor”), and by coat, I mean well covered hides or skins just like those of husky dogs.
The species of cougar also has a whitish underside and slightly very dark hair that covers the back. When the species of cougar are in humid ecological systems, this species of animal have some tendencies to be darker and even red with some shades of brown, and those species of cougar that are in the very cold regions have their bodies covered with thick hair that are silver in colour and are longer than those species of cougar in the humid areas.
More so, the species of cougars have very powerful built bodies, with paws that are quite large, they also have claws that are retractable, and they have very sharp dentition that carnivorous. In addition to that, the species of cougar have hind legs, and their hind legs have more muscles than their forelegs. Their hind legs also them help the jump quite great distances. The species of cougar could jump to about eighteen feet taking one jump, (18 feet) which is about five point four meters (5.4 meters) from a tree of about twenty feet (20 feet) which is about six meters (6 meters) down to a mountain.
More so, the various species of cougars have a spine that is usually very flexible. The spine of the cougar could be likned to the spine of a cheetah, because the spine of the cheetah allows the cheetah change directions and maneuver as it wants, and the case is the same for the species of cougar.
However, when it comes to the size of the various species of cougar, the various species of adult cougar can live under normal climatic conditions which can be up to a length of about five feet (5 feet) in height which is also about one point five meters (1.5 meters), while the length of the tail of the various species of cougar ranges between two feet to three feet which is about zero point six meters to zero point nine meters (0.6 to 0.9 meters).
More so, the various species of the male cougars are usually heavier or bigger than the various species of the female cougars, by an estimate of between the range of one hundred and fifteen pounds and two hundred and twenty pounds (115 and 220 pounds), which is about fifty-two kilograms and ninety-nine kilograms (52 and 99 kilograms), while the female cougar grows between the ranges or an estimate of about sixty-five pounds and one hundred forty pounds (65 to 140 pounds) which is about twenty-nine kilograms and sixty-three kilograms (29 to 63 kilograms).
Back to the question in this section, the species of animals identified or called the cougar, are not in any way different from the species of animals that are identified or called the mountain lion.
Are They Dangerous?
The species of the mountain lions or the cougars as we have established, are very strong predators that feed on flesh, and are quite dangerous, even though they rarely attack especially because they are not within the same habitat.
Just like most predators, the various species of a cougar when attacked or cornered, swing into actions immediately to get the supposed attacker, also when they see someone or an animal that appears to running, or seeming dead, such sight stimulates the instinct of the cougar to run after that being or organism as a target.
When any of the various species of cougar launches an attack, they often hold the prey down with their claws and bite their necks with their carnivorous dentition. It is usually called the characteristic neck bite. That neck bite means that the cougar or the mountain lion tries to fix their teeth between the vertebrae and the spinal cord, which usually results in a very serious neck injury, or a head injury, and even a fatal spinal injury depending on the intensity of the attack or positioning.
So, when a cougar gets a prey, chances are that the prey may never escape not think of surviving the attack of the species of the cougar or the species of the mountain lion.
However, should you run into a cougar or a mountain lion, and it threatens an attack, a firm and unwavering eye contact that should be intense, then if you can shout very loud but very calm, and then any action that could make a human being look bigger than the cougar, could make the cougar or the mountain lion run away or even retreat. Also, attempts to fight back with stones, sticks, rocks, or even bare hands, can also effectively help scare the various species of cougar.
What Do Cougars or Mountain Lions Feed on?
The species of the cougar are carnivorous, same goes for the species of the animal called the mountain lions. What this implies is that as carnivorous animals the various species of the cougar feed on flesh and so enjoys the diet of meat, being an animal with pride, the different species of the cougar prefers to get its food by itself.
So, it hunts down a prey and then has a good meal. The various species of cougar or the mountain lion mostly feed on various species of insects, various species of mammals that have hoof, its major preys or diet are the various species of the deer, like the mule, the white tailed deer, the elk, and the moose, then it also feeds on the other food like the bighorn sheep, various species of horses, various species of domestic livestock just like the various species of cattle, the various species of sheep, goats, various species of birds, various species of rodents like the rabbits, the porcupines, the capybara and so many other species in fact, the various species of cougar feed on anything they can defeat or kill once they are hungry including killing other predators in an ecological system just to have it all to themselves.
It may interest you to know that the attacking mechanism of the various species of the cougar does not change. It is still the very characteristics neck bite with the big preys or other predators. It even goes as far as biting the neck of the smaller preys, like when it gets the prey, regardless of the size, it gives it a very strong bite in the same position we indicated earlier, between the vertebrae and spinal cord, then it goes on with a great speed and strength or what we can call a momentum, it pushes the animal to the ground bearing hardly against the animal almost like it is aiming at making the animal disappear into the ground, then it has its meal. Some of the various species that seem to be the small preys even die before they fully hit the ground.
For the various species of the male cougars, they could kill about one very huge mammal within the space of two weeks when the go hunting. On the hand, the various species of the female cougar or the mountain lion while raising their young ones could kill or hunt down preys every three days to feed and to also feed their young ones.
There is another striking thing about this large cat or about the various species of cougar or mountain lion, it is that the various species of the animals like to build a kitchen. A kitchen is where food is made right? So yes, the various species of the cougar like to have a kitchen. Here is how that works for them.
The various species of cougar and even the various species of the animal identified as the mountain lion builds a kitchen by constantly dragging a captivated prey or a kill to a particular spot which they find more convenient, then the species of cougar or the mountain lions ensure to cover that particular spot with brush a brush it makes out of a tree, then it keeps returning to come and feed their over and over again.
More so, it is very important to know that the various species of cougar or the mountain lion are not scavengers, they prefer to consume the preys that they killed by themselves. They really feed on a prey they did not kill by themselves.
Could the Cougars Be Endangered?
For starters, out of the twenty subspecies (20 subspecies) of the species of cougar, only about three of these subspecies of cougar are considered to be endangered. Categorically stating, they are the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), then the Eastern puma (Puma concolor couguar) and finally, the Costa Rican puma (Puma concolor costaricensis). Mentioned or stated in no particular order.
The various species of the cougar or the various species of the mountain lion have in time past through history been hunted by ranchers.
This seeming hunting by ranchers is basically done out the ranchers’ fear, that the various species of cougars or mountain lion feeds on livestock and destroys their ranch and their business.
Somehow, there are more ranches and more ranch owners in some of the areas where the various species of the mountain lion, or the various species of the cougar lives. This implies that there will be more conflicts between the various species of cougars or the various species of the mountain lion and the different ranches and ranch owners who also happen to be human beings.
As we know, humans can actually send them to extinct and they become history just like the various species of dragons, the various species of ribosaurs, various species of dinosaurs, and other animals that belong to similar families that are said to have gone extinct.
So yes, the various species of cougars or the various species of the mountain lions could actually be endangered and may have to require a reserve.
I am also delighted to in this section tell you why the various species of cougars or the various species of mountain lows are called mountain screamers. It is basically because these species of animals cannot roar like the various species of lion. The various species of cougar and the various of species of the mountain lion can let out purrs that may seem to be quite low, or even low-pitched growls, but unlike the various species of animals, they do not roar, the scream, yes they scream! And that explains why they are called or why they got the name “the mountain screamer.”
