Fig. 72. Cougar or mountain lion (Felis concolor missoulensis), skin mounted as a rug; shot on Mill Creek, Pend Oreille County, Washington, February 13, 1935, by Ralph [Johnson]. Skin now measures: snout to tip of tail 252 cm., span between tips of forepaws 157 cm., tail 89 cm.; male. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor B. [Scheffer], No. 66.)
Description.—The cougar is a large cat and has the general proportions of the house cat. Large cougars measure more than seven feet in length of which the tail comprises two feet. Large males weigh more than 150 pounds. Females are smaller and lighter than males. In color the head, back, tail and outside of the legs are reddish brown. The throat, underparts and inside of the legs are white. The tip of the tail, or area near the tip, is black or blackish.
Cougars, often called mountain lions, pumas and panthers, range from Canada to southern South America.
The cougar feeds extensively upon deer and its habits and habitat are accordingly specialized. It is active in both winter and summer and zonally ranges from the Transition through the Canadian to the Hudsonian life-zones.
Fig. 73. Cougar or mountain lion (Felis concolor oregonensis), adults and young taken by Dewey Schmid in White Salmon Valley, Washington, about December 1, 1937, and January 1, 1938. Two bobcats show at extreme right. (Dewey Schmid photo.)
The number of deer killed by the average cougar is unknown. Some trappers believe that a cougar kills a deer at least every other day while others feel that only one a week is taken. Other food is eaten when available. Because cougars kill deer, they are incessantly warred upon by hunters and sportsmen. Bounties, often generous, have long been paid in Washington. Although many cougars are killed each year they are still numerous in many areas. So many remote areas in the mountains are not easily accessible to man and dogs that the cougar, as a species, probably will persist for many years.
A cougar is one of the most secretive animals in the wilds. Rarely are individuals seen by man. They are difficult to trap, principally because they are such wide-ranging animals and partly because they prefer to feed on fresh deer meat and hence are not apt to be attracted to trap bait. For these same reasons they are difficult to poison. By using poisoned hamburger, a government agent did poison one near Leavenworth, Chelan County. The principal method of killing cougar is to hunt them with packs of especially trained hounds which pursue the cougar until it takes refuge in a tree or other supposed place of safety, where it is shot.
A common gait is a swift, smooth trot in which the body is kept low and the tail droops with the terminal part bent backwards. A wild cougar seen near Leavenworth, Chelan County, traveled with effortless speed until fired upon. At the sound of the shot it made two great bounds and disappeared into the brush fringing a canyon.