FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



inches; weight, 170 pounds. Found along the lower Colo- 

 rado River, Arizona, limits of range unknown. 



******* 

 The Cougar or Puma is one of the most difficult of wild 

 mammals to see under normal circumstances. Men have 

 spent years in regions where the tracks of these Cats showed 

 the animals to be fairly common and yet have not seen the 

 beast itself. The Cougar has been given rather a fearsome 

 reputation in literature, and as the "Catamount" or 

 "Painter" has figured in more than one thrilling tale. In 

 eastern North America especially, it seems to have been a 

 greatly feared animal; in the West the ranchers and settlers 

 have regarded it very much the same way as they have the 

 Wolves and Bears, that is, as harmless unless cornered. 



The Mountain Lion is capable of killing an unarmed person 

 without risk to itself, but is normally very much afraid of 

 man and anxious to avoid him. When wounded, defending 

 young, or driven to bay, this mammal must be respected, and 

 there are authentic cases of unprovoked, fatal attacks upon 

 children, but they are very rare. 



The Cougar is a widely distributed mammal and prefers 

 country where there is plenty of cover such as patches of 

 forest, thickets of brush, or the broken topography of canyons 

 and ravines. It hunts Deer by preference and where the 

 larger mammals are wanting the Cougar is absent. It is a 

 wide-ranging hunter and individuals may cover an area in a 

 radius of thirty to fifty miles from the home den. The Cougar 

 is a highly specialized killer and preys upon most of the 

 mammals about him, aside from Porcupine, Skunk, and the 

 large carnivores. He is especially destructive to the Deer 

 and kills numbers of White-tail Deer, Mule Deer, and Wapiti. 

 He has a habit of covering a kill with brush and returning 

 to it for a second or third meal. He probably is most active 

 after sundown, but sometimes moves about during the day as 

 well. 



The Cougar has many of the attributes of the small House- 

 cat and, like it, is said to be exceedingly playful. The scream 

 of the Cougar is a long, drawn-out cry, weird and startling, well 

 calculated to raise the hair of the timid. The observations 

 of many naturalists indicate that this animal has a variety 

 of screams, cater- waulings, and yells, some of which are terrific. 



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