Mountain Lions of
By Megan
http://www.bear-tracker.com/cougar.html
What does a cat on the beach have in common with
Christmas?
The
mountain lion is tan, a lot like the African lion. It has a long, heavy tail. It has sharp teeth. It has pointy ears like a house cat. The male weighs between 110 and 180
pounds. The female weighs between 80 to
130 pounds. It is different from the
bobcat. Young mountain lions have spots
on them, but their mom does not.
There is a reason that it has sharp teeth. It can eat white tail deer. The deer are really big so the sharp teeth
come in handy. It is a carnivore. It also eats beaver, porcupines, raccoons,
birds, foxes, mice, and grasshoppers.
Mountain lions hunt by stalking and ambushing their
prey. This means that they hide, wait,
and then jump on their prey. They hide
and attack by surprise! It goes slow so
its prey doesn’t hear it coming. Then it
goes faster so it can chase.
How
is the animal raised? Mommy mountain
lions have six young between late winter and mid-summer. The babies weigh 14 ounces and 397 grams when
they are first born. The babies are
blind when they are born, but they can see soon after. The baby cougar lives for two years with its
mom. The mom brings them food during the
two years. After the two years, they
hunt by themselves.
Mountain
lions like to live in mountain areas and rainy places. They live in the woods. Sometimes you can find mountain lion
tracks. A mountain lion footprint is
similar to a dog footprint. Mountain
lion tracks only show four toes. The
mommy cougar can leap more than twenty feet away!
I
enjoyed learning how many babies a mommy mountain lion can have at a time. I also thought it was interesting that when
the babies are born, they are blind. The
mountain lion can be called by different names.
There is a lot to learn!
http://www.kidsfarm.com/lions.htm
Page created
by Deb Gurwicz, Orchard School Faculty Member
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Last Updated: 10/30/07