Puma - description, habitat, lifestyle

By puma is meant a wild cat that lives in the expanses of the United States of America and nearby territories. This animal has entered the Guinness Book of Records as a mammal with the largest number of names. It is called the deer tiger, mountain lion, cougar, etc. There are about forty names in English and about the same number in the neighboring languages ​​of different peoples of the world. On the territory of our state, these individuals are familiar to all under the name puma. They are cunning, wild and very dangerous.

Description and habitat

1. Representatives of the family are ranked in the category of large. They are rivals jaguar in their external characteristics. The length of the body can reach 1.7 m. With a tail, these figures automatically increase to 2.4 m. At the withers mammals grow to 70 cm with a body weight of 100 kg.Individuals of male sex are 25% larger than females.
2. The coat in the chest and neck is pigmented red. The head is colored gray, and on the tips of the ears there are so-called tassels made of tufts of hair. They are dark, almost black. If you look at the individuals in general, their lower part of the body is lightened, and the top is dark.
3. There are some differences in color, it depends on the area of ​​distribution of animals. For example, the inhabitants of the southern pampas and tropical zones are close to the reddish shades. And those that inhabit the open spaces of North America are more silvery. The fur is shortened and dense, not protruding, it lies uniformly, coarse in structure.
4. These mammals are distinguished by large and strong teeth. By them it is possible to determine which age category the predator is ranked. The fangs of the individual grab the game, while the incisors serve to tear the tissues and crack the bones. The tail acts as a balancer, it helps to maintain balance and move quickly.
5. The body is muscled, flexible. Despite the large size, the animals are agile and agile. At the same time, they are graceful and measured,respectable rivals. Head in comparison with the overall features of the case is small. It has a rounded format. Paws shortened, huge, with thick bones, muscled. The hind limbs are stronger and more developed, with 4 fingers on each hand, while the front legs have 5 fingers.
6. These animals are common in various landscapes. They are met in the plains, in tropical forests, overgrown forest belts, mixed forests, as well as pampas, lowlands and even coniferous areas. The length reaches Canada, and originates in North America. At the beginning of the last century, these animals were almost completely destroyed in the United States of America, but the population was partially restored.
7. Today, cougars are mistrustful to strangers, and therefore excessively dangerous. People try to tame individuals, but they do it badly. The population has partially recovered, has become similar in distribution to lynxes and leopards. Pumas hunt deer, respectively, and they live in areas where there is food.

Status

1. Since the early 1970s, these animals have been in official conservation status. These manipulations are designed to preserve the number of livestock by all possible forces. In part, this is done on the sly. It is forbidden to hunt cougar on the territory of America, but poachers have always been and will be. They cause irreparable damage to their trade.
2. Shooting is also carried out due to the fact that cougars often kill livestock. Local farmers have nothing left but to grab their guns. However, individuals continue to multiply, raise offspring and hide from humans. They adapted to those landscapes that they had never been to before. In the western part of the United States of America, the number of these mammals has resumed. They also became more in the east and south.

Lifestyle

1. It must be understood that cougars are classified as wild cats. They are kept apart or together with offspring, partners can be allowed to approach them only for the mating season. When married couples form, the mating period begins, as evidenced by a loud cat cry to the whole neighborhood.These individuals are picky in terms of the choice of location for habitat, they mark the boundaries of territorial property using claws or urine.
2. It is important that in the territory of residence there was food, and also there were enough shelters. Favorite places are forests and grassy arrays, planted with vegetation partially or completely. These predators, unlike themselves, do not attempt to immediately occupy a huge territory. If food is enough, then on a plot of 70 square meters. km settled about 10 individuals. However, the males choose more hunting areas, say, 100-300 square meters. km Representatives of female sex are more modest, costing 40-200 square meters. km., this is taking into account the place for posterity.
3. Animals move from one place to another, it all depends on the season of the year. They will not live in the winter and summer in one area, because it is necessary to obtain food and improve living conditions. In the daytime pumas bask in the sun or spend most of their time in secluded places. Activity manifests itself at night or at dusk, when the hunting period comes.
4. These mammals move so well in the mountains that they are not confused even by the most complex natural landscapes.They swim, climb the trunks of trees, overcome stone obstacles in the hope of finding the best place to hunt. Jumping in height is about 2 meters, and in length - 6 meters. These animals accelerate to 50 km. at one o'clock.
5. Due to their strength, pumas can drag prey, which is 6 times more in weight than the mammal itself. As for natural enemies, there are practically none. But young or old pumas can be hunted by packs of wolves, alligators or jaguars. The represented individuals try to avoid encounters with a man, respectively, they simply do not attack. The exceptions are cases when people appeared nearby unexpectedly.

Nutrition

1. It is noteworthy that predators go hunting mainly at dusk. Most often, cougars sit in ambush, then jumping out, attacking the victim. The cat immediately tries to eat prey neck, jumping on her back.
2. Most often, such animals hunt deer, elk, ungulates, hornbills and guanacos. It is food of animal origin that forms the basis of the diet of big cats. Often such individuals attack livestock and even cats and dogs.
3. For this reason, American farmers have a strong hostility and malice towards the cougars. Individuals often hunt rabbits, coyotes, foxes, squirrels, squirrels, mice, fish, poultry and even insects. In addition, cougars always kill more victims than they can eat.
4. From nature, pumas are endowed with ingenuity, so they are often even crammed with armadillos, snakes, skunks and porcupines. Big cats try to stay away from the water, they do not like to swim. However, if necessary, can hunt for fish.
5. Often, the animals in question hide food debris in the grass, bushes and snow. Cats completely cover meat. Often you can see that the vultures are constantly watching the cougars, then to eat carrion.
6. In addition to vultures, coyotes, foxes, and other predatory animals hunt for food remains. Interestingly, in ancient times, the Indians found such caches and took away the meat from wild cats. Thus, people did not have to hunt.
7. Separately, it should be mentioned that pumas are endowed with endurance and strength. Such cats can drag prey over long distances. In this case, the mass of the victim may exceed 5 times the weight of the puma.Often males kill 1 deer per week. As a result, he can hide the carcass and feed on it for several days.
8. It happens that other animals find the cache, which forces the cougar to hunt again. However, the individuals in question themselves will never eat meat that has been harvested by other predators. The cougar will eat only the sacrifice that she killed herself.

Breeding

1. As for the marriage period, it lasts only a short time. Pumas begin to form a pair for only a couple of weeks. After mating, they diverge. Moreover, only individuals that have their own plots start breeding. Males can impregnate several females on the nearest terrain.
2. After mating, the female bears offspring for about 3 months. In one litter can be from 2 to 6 cubs. They are blind and helpless. After only 10 days, babies see their sight. They open their ears and gradually begin to erupt teeth. The cubs are spotted in color.
3. At first, the female protects the offspring and does not even let anyone see him. After 1 month, the mother takes the youngsters to the first walk.Solid offspring offspring begins to eat from 2 months. Cubs stay with their mother until about 2 years of age. After that, they have a full adult life.

Pumas are quite interesting wild cats. At first the youngsters try to keep in groups. As soon as they become completely independent, they part. In the wild, cats live to be 18 years old. In captivity, this figure is slightly more.

Video: Puma (Puma concolor)