MOUNTAIN LION, COUGAR
(Puma concolor)
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Tracks
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Quickie Roar
19k
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Mass: 67 to 103 kg
Length: to 8 ft. (2.4 m)
Biomes: tundra, taiga, temperate forest & rainforest, temperate grassland, chaparral, desert, tropical rainforest, tropical deciduous forest, tropical scrub forest, tropical savanna & grasslands, mountains
Status: threatened.
Range: The mountain lion had one of the most extensive distribution of all American terrestrial mammals. It ranged from coast to coast in North America, and from southern Argentina to northern British Columbia. Hunting pressure and other environmental changes have restricted their range to relatively mountainous, unpopulated areas.
Hiker's Note:
Your risk of being injured or killed by a mountain lion is infinitesimal. There have been only 13 fatal mountain lion attacks in all of North America in the last 100 years. Eleven of the fatal attacks occurred in western states and provinces where trophy hunting of lions is allowed.
With their current legal protection, pumas now occur very close to settled areas throughout western North America, and attacks on people, while infrequent compared to other hazards from animals or nature, have increased. However, the ferocity of the mountain lion is often exaggerated.
Mountain lion tracks are 3 - 4 inches (8 - 10 cm) across and show no evidence of claws. Each print consists of 4 rounded toes and a heel pad. Front paw tracks are slightly smaller that hind tracks.
References
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