Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are native to North America. They can thrive in various landscapes, so mountain lions have had to adapt to their environment.
Cougars have no natural predators and can live almost anywhere. They have no fixed breeding season, allowing them to reproduce anytime. They have excellent sight and hearing, large territories, and live on less water in hot desert conditions.
To find out how mountain lions adapted to their surroundings, I wanted to do some research. If you want to know more, then please read on.
Cougars can be found in North America. Find out where in this article I wrote.
How Do Mountain Lions Adapt To Their Environment?
Living in various areas, mountain lions have developed many different behaviors and senses to survive.
Vision
Mountain lions have large eyes. They contain many light-sensitive cells called rods, which enable them to see clearly at night. The rods help them to see their prey before the prey sees them. Extraordinary vision is essential for successful hunting, especially in environments where the game is found less frequently.
A cougar’s eyes change color as they get older. A mountain lion is born with piercing blue eyes. These become yellow when they are around 16 months old.
Hearing
Apart from vision, hearing is also an essential part of the puma’s senses. Their sensitive ears have developed to hear sounds other mammals do not. Combined with their excellent vision, their hearing helps them precisely locate their prey. Excellent hearing is also a suitable defense mechanism; it can hear danger from far away.
Jaws
Powerful jaws enable mountain lions to kill their prey quickly and effectively. They aim for the neck. In the case of small mammals, the mountain lion instantly breaks it, causing the animal to die soon.
If biting a large prey such as deer, mountain lions will try to suffocate it if they cannot kill it with one bite. Killing game, especially larger ones, must be done quickly. Animals have a strong survival instinct, and they will fight back, and the mountain lion could get injured by its prey.
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Legs, Paws, and Tail
Mountain lions have large, soft paws, which are very helpful in catching prey. The feet allow them to be quiet when moving so the game won’t hear them and run away. Their paws are also powerful and have powerful claws. This will enable them to climb trees or drag the heavy game to a safe spot.
They also have a long tail, enhancing balance when jumping and navigating rough rocky terrain. The long tail also allows the mountain lion to change direction swiftly while chasing prey without falling over.
Cougars have strong, muscular back legs that are longer than their front legs. Their legs enable them to jump up to about 18 feet (5.49 m). It also allows them to launch swiftly and quietly. As a species that stalks its prey from ambush, its legs are essential for successful hunting.
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Breeding
Mountain lions can breed at almost any time of the year. Breeding season varies in different locations. This allows the mountain lion to use natural resources, food, and water to increase young pumas’ chances of adulthood.
Females that are physically ready to reproduce will not do so if they do not possess adequate territory. Having a safe and well-known place for hunting and nursing also increases the survival rate of cubs.
How Do Mountain Lions Survive In Mountains?
In North America, mountain lions can be found in different mountain ranges. You may see them in higher parts of the Rocky Mountains and other places with similar geographical features.
Mountain terrain has two essential features for cougars, prey and cover. In the mountains, cougars feed mainly on deer. Mountains also provide water and vegetation that deer feed on. Mountains make the perfect hunting ground for cougars, with woods providing excellent hiding places.
Mountain lions stalk their prey, and to do that successfully, the terrain must provide cover. Mountains offer woods, bushes, and all kinds of thick vegetation; higher up the hills, there are rocks and cliffs.
Hunting for deer is very important, especially for cougars with young cubs. The energy used to catch a deer can be restored after feeding. The food will also provide the power to produce milk for her cubs.
Cougars also hunt smaller mammals like rabbits. This is not as energy efficient as hunting deer, especially for a nursing cougar, so mountains are excellent habitats for finding larger prey.
Cougars live alone except for a few days when mating. They hold large territories, sometimes more than 500 square miles per animal. These large territories enable them to follow their prey as deer move to feed.
Knowing their territory is vital to a cougar. They learn about the best hiding places and where to find prey. The size of the cougar’s territory depends on the amount of game in the area.
Territories of different cougars can overlap. This happens quite often in places with a higher number of cougars. Sharing parts of their regions enables them to focus more on hunting and conserving energy than fighting over territory. The exception to this is the mating season.
No matter which territory they choose, mountain lions will always try to be away from human settlements in remote and secluded areas.
Mountain lions can often be found in “transition” areas. These are where woods mix with rocky areas or where bushes meet the river. These areas give the cougar the ability to hide more efficiently when stalking. Research has shown that the shape and thickness of vegetation are more critical than the type of vegetation.
Mountains provide a vast selection of potential dens where female cougars can give birth to their cubs. These areas must be hidden from danger and hard to access for other animals. A safe shelter is essential in the first few days after birth.
Cougars do not have permanent dens when they have no cubs. When cubs are about five months old, they start roaming around the territory with their mother.
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How Do Cougars Survive In The Desert?
At first sight, deserts seem like lifeless environments. It is hard to believe that a big cat can survive in those places, but cougars are so adaptable that deserts are a perfect place to find them.
Although prey and water are harder to find, desert topography provides excellent areas for hiding and stalking. Their coat color blends in perfectly with most desert habitats. Rocks and canyons provide shelter and enable the cougar to stand on higher ground to observe and ambush their prey.
Mountain lions are not picky eaters. Cougars will hunt for almost anything, including rodents, which can be found in the desert.
Cougars eat sheep, porcupines, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, mountain goats, caribou, and even birds.
Deserts offer caves, holes, and cavities that cougars can use as dens. Research has shown that cougars adapted to desert conditions can survive on less water than those in mountainous regions.
In the desert, pumas will look for a water source. These places will also attract other animal species, that cougars will hunt them. Shortage of water forces different mammals to go to the same watering holes. Cougars will patiently wait in cover and attack when ready. In the desert, cougars feed on smaller prey and hunt more frequently.
Mountain lions are primarily nocturnal animals. During the day, they will hide from the sun to avoid possible dehydration.
Prey is scattered in deserts, so a cougar’s territory will be more significant. Mountain lions must patrol and cover considerable distances to find locations with more potential prey. Territories in the desert can overlap with more than one mountain lion.
Conclusion
Few species can survive in harsh habitats, but the evolution of their senses and anatomy makes the mountain lion an extraordinary predator.
Cougars can be found wherever prey is. Not having permanent dens shows how adaptable these animals are, even when having cubs just a few months old.
Cougars can thrive in various locations. Most animals live in fixed habitats. Some live in forests, some on plains, but most can barely survive outside those locations.
Mountain lions developed specific adaptations and skills that enable them to live in all kinds of places. Cougars live on the coast, and some live in swamps.
Cougars have no natural predators, allowing them to live almost anywhere in North America.
Ever wondered how cougars hunt? Find out here
References:
Bernhard Grzimek, Schlager, N., Olendorf, D. and American (2003). Grzimek’s animal life encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale.
Busch, R.H. (2004). The Cougar Almanac. Lyons Press.
Wilson, D.E. (1999). The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Washington: Smithsonian Inst. Press.
Nowak, R.M. and Walker, E.P. (1991). Walker’s mammals of the world. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/mountainlion.htm
https://mountainlion.org/CAL_ch2.php
https://www.mountainlion.org/CAL_ch3.php
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Mountain-Lion
Bryan Harding is a member of the American Society of Mammalogists and a member of the American Birding Association. Bryan is especially fond of mammals and has studied and worked with them around the world. Bryan serves as owner, writer, and publisher of North American Nature.