Cougars
Cougars
Puma (Felis [Puma] concolor): Also: cougar, painter, panther, catamount, lion, Mexican lion, silver lion, mountain lion, mountain demon, mountain devil, mountain screamer, brown tiger, red tiger, deer tiger, deer killer, Indian devil, purple feather, king cat, sneak cat - or simply varmint. In the English language, the cougar is the most lavishly named of all the great cats, if not of all animals.
The puma is the most widely distributed of the American cats. It originally ranged over most of Canada, parts of the United States and into South America. Its current territory is greatly reduced. Now bound only in the mountain regions, parts of Florida and rare sightings elsewhere in North America, its natural range has been largely taken by mankind. Body length can very between one and two meters for males (avg 59 in.) with 66 to 78 cm tail length (avg 28 in.) Females vary from one to one and a half meters in body length with 53 to 81 cm tail length (avg 26 in.) The average male puma weight is 191 lbs, and 108 lbs for females. Larger cases have been recorded.
The colouring of pumas varies greatly between individuals. Varieties of reds, greys and browns occur. The puma's Linnaean (scientific) name comes from its coat's largely uniform colouring. It has few markings, unlike the spots and stripes of the majority of the felines. The colouration does become lighter at the shoulders and usually turns a dull white on the underside. The sides of the muzzle are black, upper lips, chin and throat almost pure white, the backs of the ears, black with or without greyish or reddish median patches. The tail is the same colour as the back on its upper side, lighter below, and dark brown or blackish at its end. Young pumas, meanwhile, are yellowish brown and have a striking pattern of irregular rows of large black spots which gradually fade out as the cub matures.
Black pumas have occasionally been obtained in South and Central America, but never in Canada or the U.S. Cases of white pumas are extremely rare, perhaps only three in recorded history.
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