Montana Department of Fish. Wildlife & Parks 



Mountain Lion 



Their larger relative, the mountain lion 

 (or cougar), may reach a length of 8 feet 

 from nose to tail tip. Unlike the smaller 

 cats, it feeds on big game and kills from 14 

 to 20 deer a year, or 5 to 7 elk, enough to 

 obtain over 2,000 pounds of meat. After 

 eating as much as it can hold, the moun- 

 tain lion covers the prey to keep it from car- 

 rion eaters, saving it for later meals. Some 

 kills of coyotes, porcupines, and small ro- 

 dents complete the diet. 



These cats are all shy, secretive animals 

 who avoid humans, and keep mostly to the 

 high mountain forests. 



Coyotes, Wolves, and Foxes: 



Family Canidae 



Coyotes are the most widely-ranging 

 members of this group, adapting their 

 choice of food and methods of hunting to 

 where they live. They hunt in grasslands 

 for moles, ground squirrels, and gophers, 

 in rock slides and outcrops for marmots, 

 and along forested waterways for beavers, 

 porcupines, and an occasional frog. 

 Several coyotes sometimes work together 

 to surround a deer in the high country, and 



they bring down old or crippled domestic 

 sheep and young lambs. 



Coyotes are occasionally killed by bears 

 or mountain lions, but their chief enemy, 

 besides humans, is over-population which 

 is followed by malnutrition and disease. 



Like wolves, coyotes have only one life- 

 mate. The young are born in April, and are 

 soon out in the world, hunting with their 

 parents from the age of 6 weeks or so. 



Wolves are rare in Montana, although a 

 few may occasionally stray into remote 

 parts of the northern mountains from 

 Canada. There is also possibly a remnant 

 population in Yellowstone Park, but this is 

 not certain. They are an endangered spe- 

 cies and may not be hunted or trapped. 

 Their food consists mostly of big game- 

 elk, moose, and deer. Social animals, 

 wolves hunt in packs, which enables them 

 to bring down animals much larger than 

 they are. They range 15 to 20 miles in a 

 day, and their home range may be from 50 

 to 100 miles square. 



Mating occurs in March, and the wolf 

 pups are born in May. The mother does not 

 leave the deep den she has dug for several 

 weeks. Food is brought to the den by mem- 

 bers of the pack. Later when the pups ven- 

 ture out of the den, the other wolves make 

 them a welcome part of the group. This 

 closeness of the pack members is typical of 

 the social structure of the pack. 



The red fox lives throughout Montana; it 

 digs its den in fields or hillsides, where 4 or 

 5 pups are born in early spring. Insects, 

 frogs, and small mammals make up its 

 diet. Early morning or late evening are the 

 best times to catch sight of this wary 

 hunter. 



Montana Departtnrnt nf Fish Wildlife «r Parks 



Coyote 



