Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are a large powerful predator at the top of the food chain. Adult mountain lions can vary in weight from 85-130 pounds for females to 120-180 pounds for males, and may reach 6-8' in length from their nose to the tip of their tail. Mountain lions typically are 2-3' in height at the shoulder. Adults are tawny colored with a dark tip on the end of their tail. Young lions, called kittens or cubs, have spots that fade through their first year of life.
Mountain lions were once the most widely distributed land mammal in the western hemisphere, ranging from northern British Columbia to the southern tip of South America. Before European settlement of this country, the mountain lion was distributed throughout nearly every state; but now the mountain lion is restricted to only the western states with a remnant population remaining in Florida. Hated and relentlessly killed for bounty since 1879, the mountain lion was classified a game animal by the Montana legislature in 1971, and has since regained much of its historical distribution in Montana. The mountain lion lives in almost all habitats found in Montana except the open prairies.
As demonstrated by its once vast geographical range, the mountain lion is a very adaptive and effective predator. In Montana and throughout the western United States, the mountain lion is inseparably tied to deer and elk as prey species. The list of prey upon which lions exist also includes mice, rabbits, beaver, grouse, and occasionally livestock. The lion is even one of the only predators the well defended porcupine has to worry about.
Mountain lions are unique among predators in that they customarily take down prey many times their own size. It is not unusual for a 140-pound mountain lion to kill a 400-pound elk. Lions silently stalk or ambush their unsuspecting prey, most often with a short sprint, attacking from behind, and typically kill deer with a powerful bite to the neck at the base of the skull. To kill large elk, the cougar may reach around the neck and pull the elk's head back with a thrust strong enough to break the neck.
Lions feeding on a kill are potentially dangerous and should never be approached. A feeding lion may seem almost tame at times, but in defense of food, can suddenly become aggressive. Lions cover unconsumed portions of their kills with soil and litter. These food caches should be avoided by humans.
Mountain lions are most active at dusk and dawn, but it is normal to see them traveling at any time of the day or night. Lions have special adaptation for seeing at night and are easily blinded when caught in a passing headlight or flashlight.
Mountain lions are semi-territorial. Adults stake out a home range by leaving scent in "scrapes" along the boundaries. A scrape is a 4-6? mound of dirt and forest litter pulled together where the cat deposits urine and dung. This marking system is the way lions tell other lions that the area is already occupied and should be avoided. Thus, the territories are defended more by mutual avoidance of each other than by aggressive defense of space. A typical male territory in Montana is 50-150 square miles in size while those of females are usually less than 50 square miles. Subadult lions may not be able to immediately find an unoccupied territory. In these cases subadults become transient, covering very large areas in search of an unoccupied territory.
Females first breed at 18 months to two years of age, but generally not until they have established a territory. The gestation period is 92 days long and females then give birth at two-to-three year intervals. While lions will breed at any time of year, most litters (1-5 kittens) in Montana are born in late spring and summer. This is also the time young lions, one to two years of age, are becoming independent of their mothers. Littermates may travel together for months before separating. This fact may explain why it is not uncommon to see these normally solitary creatures traveling together.
If You Meet a Mountain Lion
Most Montanans live all their lives without a glimpse of a mountain lion, much less a confrontation with one. Those people that do see a cougar generally describe them more as a fleeting ghost or a shadow than a reality of nature.
No research has been conducted to determine what is the best course of action if a human is confronted with a lion. But, based upon observations of people who have been confronted by lions, some patterns of lion behavior and appropriate human response are emerging.
Mountain lions are carnivores at the top of the food chain, and their actions are often unpredictable. With this in mind, the following is a list of recommended responses to minimize the likelihood of attack or chance of human injury.
When you walk or hike in lion habitat, go in groups and make enough noise to prevent surprising a lion. A sturdy walking stick is a good idea—it can be used to ward off an offending lion. Make sure that all children are close to you and within your sight and control at all times.
Never approach a mountain lion. All lions are unpredictable. However, cougars will normally avoid a confrontation—give them a way out.
If a mountain lion is encountered:
Stay calm. Talk to the lion in a confident yet calm voice.
Pick all children up off the ground immediately. Children tend to frighten easily and their rapid movement may provoke an attack.
Do not run. Move slowly. Try to back away from the lion slowly. Sudden movement or fleeing behavior often triggers instinctive predatory attacks by lions.
Do not turn your back on the lion. Face the lion and remain in an upright position.
Do all that you can to enlarge your image. Do not crouch down or try to hide.
If a mountain lion behaves aggressively:
Arm yourself with a large stick, throw rocks, speak louder and more firmly. Do not turn your back or stay crouched down. The object is to convince the lion that you are not prey, but in fact are a danger to them.
Fight back! If a mountain lion attacks, remain standing up. Many people have survived lion attacks by fighting back with everything from rocks, sticks, and bare fists to fishing poles.
What To Do If You Live In Mountain Lion Country
We can live with these magnificent predators if we respect both mountain lions and their habitats!
To reduce the risk of problems with lions on or near your property, we urge you to follow this list of simple precautions. Prevention is far better than confrontation.
Closely supervise your children when they are playing outdoors. Make sure that children are home before dusk and are not outside before dawn. Talk with your children about lions and teach them what to do if they encounter one.
Landscape or remove vegetation to eliminate hiding cover for lions. You do not have to remove all vegetation, but you should remove enough so that a lion cannot come into your yard undetected.
Do not attract wildlife, especially deer, into your yard by feeding or salting them. Use native plants in landscaping projects. Many non-native plants attract deer. Lions will in turn be attracted to these prey animals.
Roaming pets are easy prey. Bring pets in at night. If they are left out, confine them in a kennel with a secured top. Do not feed pets outside as this attracts not only young lions but many small animals that lions prey upon. Place domestic livestock in an enclosed shed or barn at night.
Encourage your neighbors to follow these simple precautions as well.
Tracks
Mountain Lion
Mountain lion prints are round in shape, have a deeply bi-lobed main pad, and normally do not show claws.
Front paw: length 3? — width 3½?
Hind paw: length 3? — width 3?
Common gait is a walk.
The shape of a lion track is basically round, only slightly wider than it is long. The tracks have four teardrop-shaped toes, three distinct lobes at the base of the heel pads, and a bi-lobed leading edge of the paw pad. Lynx tracks overlap smaller lion tracks in size, and wolves or large domestic dogs overlap in size with larger lions. Neither of these species, however, display the deeply three-lobed heel pads or the bi-lobing on the front of the main paw pad. Since the claws are retractable in cats, claw marks generally are not apparent in their tracks as they are with dogs and wolves.
Large Domestic Dog
Large dog prints are rectangular in shape, have one lobe on the front of the main pad, and generally show claws.
Confrontation with a Mountain Lion
Mountain lion populations and their prey have been increasing throughout the western United States since the mid-1960s. At the same time, the trend in human populations has been towards increased urbanization. In Montana this has meant urban sprawl onto previously undeveloped lands and more new subdivisions in mountain foothills and canyons. One outcome of this phenomenon has been increased interactions between mountain lions and people.
Most lions involved in human confrontations began by coming in contact with human foods such as garbage, pet foods or even the pets themselves. One-to-two year old mountain lions have accounted for over 70 percent of the lion-human interactions in Montana during recent years. Many of these young lions, trying to establish home ranges after leaving their mothers, may have difficulty obtaining enough food in the wild.
Dogs appear to have little value as a deterrent to attack from lions. In fact, dogs—even very large ones—have been associated with a high percentage of aggressive lion-human encounters. In some cases, however, the dog may act as a decoy, where the attacking lion pursues the dog rather than a human. Despite common belief, disease has not been a predisposing factor in lion attacks.
Over the last 100 years, there have been 50 recorded attacks on humans in North America, causing 10 fatalities. On a national scale, more incidents have occurred in the past twenty years than in the previous 80. Unfortunately, nine of ten victims have been children.
If you have a confrontation with a mountain lion, immediately call the nearest Office of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
