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The Cougar...a cat of many names...is also known as the Puma, Panther or Mountain Lion.
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The Cougar can be found in varying habitats from the mountain forest, up to around 16,000 feet, to lowland swamp and grasslands.
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The Cougar hunts alone, by day or night, and will cache it's food, if large enough, in dense undergrowth, returning to it over several days.
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Comparable in size to the Leopard, the Cougar is big enough to tackle larger prey, such as domestic cattle and horses (for which it has earned a bad reputation with livestock farmers), as well as wild deer, sheep, rodents, rabbits, hare and beaver.
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Although their numbers have been greatly reduced by hunting and trapping, the Cougar, in general,is not endangered.
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However, one sub-species, the Florida Panther, has become endangered, and as few as 50 or so of these cats now survive in the wild.
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The Florida State government, in an effort to help save the panther, has erected fences and under-passes along the major state highways, partly in an effort to help reduce the incidences of road fatalities.
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To help in strengthening future generations, a captive breeding program has been implemented.
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A number of young Panthers have been removed from the wild.These Panthers will be used to supplement the wild population in future years.
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In general, the size and coloration of the cat varies greaty across its range, which stretches from the southwest of Canada, down the western states of North America and throughout most western parts of the South American continent.
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In the north of its range, and in higher mountainous regions, its coat is generally longer to provide additional protection aganst the extremes in temperature.
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The color of the fur varies from slate gray, through yellow buff to light reddish brown.
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In appearance the cat has a small, broad head, with small rounded ears and a powerful body with long hind legs and tail, which is tipped with black.
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We are indeed blessed that there are still some of these gorgeous wild animals left, and we must each do all that we can to assure that there will be enough unpopulated areas left for them to be able to survive and propagate their species, so that future generations will be able to enjoy them as we and our ancestors have done over the years.
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