A mountain lion was hit by a truck on us 81 yesterday, just south of Union City. I'll post pics as soon as i figure out how to 
weatherby beat you to it in a thread titled "Told you so"
can't be from oklahoma... it's not black.
Got a bit close to a momma and a cub near Lake Lawtanka a few weeks back. While I didn't actually see them I saw there tracks and some had been made atop my own tracks. My buddy in Medicine Park has one that walks up and down his street. They have taken several pics of it in the yard.
If anyone tells you they see a mountain lion or sign of a mountain lion in the same spot twice they are most likely getting a little bit imaginative. The have a 2500 square mile plus range. they don't hang out in the same place long.
2500! That's a huge range now.
Its true. They cover a very large area. When they made it semi-legal to shoot them in the state the calls to the wildlife department went down pretty fast.
Mountain lions, also known as cougars, panthers, or pumas, are highly efficient predators. These cats have a wide range throughout the Western states, and populations are increasing. An individual cat's range depends on food availability. Thus, a range can vary from 10 to 370 square miles.
Here are a few more facts about cougars:
MOUNTAIN LION FACT SHEET
By T. R. Mader, Research Director
Mountain lions, also known as cougars, panthers, or pumas, are highly efficient predators. These cats have a wide range throughout the Western states, and populations are increasing. An individual cat's range depends on food availability. Thus, a range can vary from 10 to 370 square miles.
Male lions weigh up to 165 pounds and grow to more than eight feet in length. Females weigh about 100 pounds. Female lions generally first reproduce at about two and one half years of age. Generally they have two or three young (kittens). A mountain lion's life spanis estimated at 12 years in the wild, although cats have lived up to 25 years in captivity.
Mountain lions are solitary animals. They tend to live in remote country and are seldom seen by humans. They hunt their prey by stealth and ambush. Their method of killing is usually with a powerful bite at the base of the skull, breaking the neck. ("Living with Wildlife in Mountain Lion Country," Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver, CO) The mountain lion, like the domestic cat with a mouse, will kill for the sake of killing. A lion may kill many more animals in an attack than it can possibly consume. Lions have killed as many as twenty sheep at one time. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services [formerly Animal Damage Control], Reno, Nevada)
A mountain lion requires 8 to 10 pounds of meat per day to survive. Its diet consists of deer, elk, porcupines, small mammals, livestock, and pets. Generally a lion prefers deer. Experts tell us a lion kills one deer every 9 to 14 days. (Information compiled from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, San Antonio, Texas, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena, Montana) And in some areas, it has been found that a lion kills as many as two deer per week, especially in hot weather. Why? First, a lion tends to leave a carcass once it has begun to spoil. Second, scavengers (vultures, crows, ravens, magpies, coyotes, skunks, etc.) find the carcass the lion has killed and hidden. They consume it before the lion returns to feed on the remains. Wildlife Services Specialists find that success in capturing problem lions is much greater within two days of the actual kill than thereafter. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, Reno, Nevada)
In Montana there has been an increase in lion kills due to the presence of wolves. Biologists have found that wolves will often chase a lion off its kill and consume it. Thus, the lion is forced to make more kills than usual. (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena, Montana) We call this "predation compounding." However, there have been few studies, if any, to document the actual increase in predation due to such competition among predators.
The mountain lion population is increasing over most of its current range. This is due to two factors:
1. Food availability.
2. Lack of predator control. This population increase has a short-term benefit, but could create long-term problems.
and environmental issues for over 15 years.
I stand corrected. In my defense the numbers do vary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar
Never knew they had so many names.
I still say they are not a creature of habit. They still cover alot of area.
I will stand by my view that people that see them all the time in the same spot are a little imaginative. Don't want to say they are full of it bit but I am skeptic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar
Never knew they had so many names.
I still say they are not a creature of habit. They still cover alot of area.
I will stand by my view that people that see them all the time in the same spot are a little imaginative. Don't want to say they are full of it bit but I am skeptic.
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