Cougar Behavior Cougars are solitary animals and typically only come together to mate. Cougar is protective of their young and will stay with them for up to two years. Cougars are good swimmers and climbers. They are also proficient hunters and have been known to take down animals as large as elk.
Also known as mountain lions or pumas, cougars are known for their strength, agility, and awesome ability to jump. Their exceptionally powerful legs enable them to leap 30 feet from a standstill, or to jump 15 feet straight up a cliff wall.
Mountain lions are stealthy predators, hunting at night and often lying in wait for prey or silently stalking it before pouncing from behind and delivering a lethal bite to the spinal cord. Typically they prey on deer, but also feed on smaller animals, even insects, when necessary.
Make noise by yelling, blowing a whistle or an air horn. If you have an umbrella, quickly open and close it while facing the cougar. Do not approach the cougar. Give it ample space to run away – don't corner it.
If the cougar attacks, fight back. Be aggressive and try to stay on your feet. Cougars have been driven away by people who have fought back using anything within reach, including sticks, rocks, shovels, backpacks, and clothing—even bare hands.
Repellents and scare devices include: Propane cannons, horns, sirens, flashing lights and radios with sound amplifiers. Presently there aren't any odour or taste repellents that have shown significant effectiveness in reducing cougar attacks.
Terminology and age
The term has been variously applied to middle-aged women who pursue sexual relations with men more than ten years younger than they are.
Cougar Signs
Experts such as Debra Chase, CEO of the Mountain Lion Foundation, say that cougars are mostly afraid of humans and don't see us as potential prey. Occasionally, though, humans fool them. Quick movements, such as running or bicycling, which make humans resemble prey, sometimes lead to cougar attacks.
A pet cougar can be tamed, but it can never be domesticated.
Though a privately owned cougar will eventually grow accustomed to its owners, it can never be domesticated like a dog or a cat. The best you can hope for is a docile — and sometimes playful — pet that won't crush you to death with its powerful jaw.
Cougars are the most elusive and least aggressive of the world's large cats. They are afraid of people and do not recognize or seek us out as prey. They want to avoid you and not be seen. In fact, you are seen by cougars a lot more frequently than you see them.
Cougars are solitary animals, making them a rare sight for humans. They usually hunt alone and at night, ambushing their prey from behind.
A cougar can jump upward 18 feet from a sitting position. They can leap up to 40 feet horizontally. Cougars cannot roar like a lion, but they can make calls like a human scream. Generally, adult cougars are solitary animals (they live alone).
They're highly intelligent and elusive animals who primarily eat deer and avoid humans; mountain lion predation has even been shown to reduce vehicle collisions with deer. Killing big cats disrupts their social structure and may exacerbate conflicts with humans and other animals.
A manther is the male version of a cougar, or a middle-aged woman who has the hots for younger men. Manthers are older men who pursue partners significantly younger than them.
Cougar: I believe officially a "cougar" is any woman who is 40+ and out looking for a younger man. It is supposed to be cute. It's not. It is demeaning.
A person with such a sexual preference is a gerontophile or gerontosexual. The word gerontophilia was coined in 1901 by psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. It derives from Greek: geron, meaning "old person" and philia, meaning "friendship".
Humans are capable of fending off cougars, as adult humans are generally larger. It is even possible for humans to win a fight against a cougar, such as the case of Travis Kauffman, who choked a juvenile cougar to death when attacked while jogging.
If a cougar is in the area and you are lucky enough to detect its presence, most often it will be due to “cougar sign” and not actually seeing the animal. These signs are evidence left behind after a cougar has passed through. Cougar signs include tracks, scat, scratches and cached (partially buried) prey.
In the United States cougars are legally hunted in fourteen western states. Most researchers agree that sport hunting and loss of habitat are the most serious threats to these large carnivores' populations.
If the mountain lion is acting aggressively or is moving in your direction, the park service recommends throwing sticks, rocks or other objects its way. This can help intimidate and scare off the mountain lion. Don't aim for the head.
The cougar scream is linked to mating activities. In female cougars, it often is believed to be an indication of the heat cycle. Heat in cougars takes place at many points during the span of a year. When male cougar screams, it often is due to the rivalry for the attention of females.
If you encounter an aggressive lion, stare him down. But not a leopard; avoid his gaze at all costs. In both cases, back away slowly; don't run.
The historical average odds of any one individual being fatally attacked by a mountain lion in the United States is about one in a billion, or three times LESS likely than that same individual getting the winning numbers in tonight's Powerball Lottery.