Animal Facts #6: Cougar

in #nature7 years ago


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The cougar which is also known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, or catamount is a large cat. These beasts ranges from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America. These cats live in solitary as they are a ambush predator that pursues a large range of prey. They are considered nocturnal and crepuscular, which is a active animal in the periods of dawn and dusk. These cats prefer habitats with dense brush and rocky areas so they can stalk their prey, they can also live in open areas also though. These cats are hermit-like and tend to avoid people. Fatal attacks from these cats are rare but there have been more attacks since humans are entering their territories.

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Although cougars resemble the domestic cat, they are about the same size as a adult human. They are not classified as a big cat as they can not roar. These cats eat anything they can catch, from small insects to deer, they eat it all. They are carnivore and have to eat only meat to survive. Cougars can be menacing animals and kill by snapping the neck of their prey. They have powerful jaws and sharp talons on their paws. They can run up to 64 to 80 km/h (40-50 mph).Courgars can survive in the wild for eight to ten years. In captivity they can survive up to twenty years old. Although one North American cougar named, Scratch, was two months short of his 30th birthday when he died in 2007.

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One of my favorite animals is the black panther. A black panther is the melanistic (development of dark-colored pigment in the skin) color variant of any Panthera species. They are menacing and strike fear in any who come across one, while also invoking admiration in those for their beauty. These are not cougars but are very similar. There have been no authenticated cases of truly black cougars.

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This concludes today's day of animal facts. Every day I will try my best to make a post on a animal. Feel free to comment what animal to do for tomorrow and follow. Thanks for reading.