- Joined
- Mar 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,357
I have frequently gotten the impression that most folks don't take the cougar seriously as a potential threat to man in the wild. I think part of the reason is that many have never seen any cougars besides the lean, small-headed females that are almost always the cats that appear in wildlife photographs. My own impression was changed forever the first time I saw a large male in captivity at a zoo.
The mountain lion is, in fact, the fourth heaviest cat in the world, behind the tiger, lion and jaguar. That's right, the cougar is larger than the leopard, a cat which is feared by most visitors to the African or asian bush.
The average female cougar weighs from 75 to 105 lbs. But the much larger male ranges from 115 to 160 lbs on average, and can reach top weights of up to 260 lbs, with a nose to tail-tip length of 9 ft. Also, the head of the male is proportionally much larger than that of the female.
A picture is worth a thousand words. So have a look at this large male that was accidentally struck by a car in Arizona. Game officials and wildlife veterinarians were unable to save the cat and his body was subsequently donated to a taxidermist who mounted the animal for exhibition in a museum.
It took three men to lift the animal, whose weight was estimated to be about 220 lbs, not the largest on record by any means. The width of the big cats paw was 8 in. across and his length was 7 ft from his nose to the tip of his tail. Here's a pic of the paw:
Be careful in cougar country folks.
BTW, my brother, who worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife for 30 years, tells me that there are now five documented cases of jaguars living in southern Arizona. These cats live on ranches and are protected by the landowners. Jaguars have recorded body weights of up to 350 lbs.
Watcherass
The mountain lion is, in fact, the fourth heaviest cat in the world, behind the tiger, lion and jaguar. That's right, the cougar is larger than the leopard, a cat which is feared by most visitors to the African or asian bush.
The average female cougar weighs from 75 to 105 lbs. But the much larger male ranges from 115 to 160 lbs on average, and can reach top weights of up to 260 lbs, with a nose to tail-tip length of 9 ft. Also, the head of the male is proportionally much larger than that of the female.
A picture is worth a thousand words. So have a look at this large male that was accidentally struck by a car in Arizona. Game officials and wildlife veterinarians were unable to save the cat and his body was subsequently donated to a taxidermist who mounted the animal for exhibition in a museum.
It took three men to lift the animal, whose weight was estimated to be about 220 lbs, not the largest on record by any means. The width of the big cats paw was 8 in. across and his length was 7 ft from his nose to the tip of his tail. Here's a pic of the paw:
Be careful in cougar country folks.
BTW, my brother, who worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife for 30 years, tells me that there are now five documented cases of jaguars living in southern Arizona. These cats live on ranches and are protected by the landowners. Jaguars have recorded body weights of up to 350 lbs.
Watcherass
.
