Fig. 74. Distribution of the cougar in Washington. A. Felis concolor oregonensis. B. Felis concolor missoulensis.
Although the cougar is a large and powerful carnivore it almost never makes unprovoked attacks upon man. An exception was the cougar that partially devoured a thirteen-year old boy near Lake Chelan, Chelan County ([Finley], 1925: 197-199).
The hunting range of an individual cougar is many miles in extent. These ranges are traveled periodically and any particular area may be visited regularly every few days. The cougars may travel many miles each night in search of deer. Their ranges must overlap to a certain extent for as many as 12 have been taken from a single drainage area. Over most of the year they are solitary but breeding females may attract several males and hunters occasionally capture a female and several males at one locality. Breeding occurs in almost any month of the year. The young are cared for by the female and follow her for perhaps a year. Young individuals have been taken at the same time and in the same locality as an adult female and several adult males that supposedly were breeding. There are from one to three young in a litter. For the first months of their life cougar kittens are spotted. In this they differ from the young of the bobcat which are plain or slightly mottled and do not become spotted until later in life. Cougar kittens differ further from bobcat kittens in possessing a long tail.
The pelage of the cougar is short and of no value as fur although the skins often are sold at a good price as trophies when prepared as rugs.
Felis concolor oregonensis Rafinesque
Felix [sic] oregonensis Rafinesque, Atlantic Journal, 1:62, 1832.
Felis hippolestes olympus [Merriam], Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 11:220, July 15, 1897 (type from Lake Cushman, Mason County, Washington).
Felis oregonensis Stone, Science, n. s., 9:35, January 6, 1899.