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Cougar Predation
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  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author https://mountainlion.org/CAL_ch4.asp 
Cougars are very strong for their size, judging by the sizes of their preys. Impressive.
I noticed that Bison was missing from their reported prey. Upon looking for predation accounts (of which I expected to come up empty handed), I found this. It seems absolutely nothing is off the menu for these predators. For me they are the most underrated of the big cats.
"Bison weigh almost 10 times more than a cougar, yet there are 2 accounts of cougar attacks on bison. In western Arkansas John Hunter was weathering a bison stampede by standing behind a tree. A cougar had caused the stampede when it jumped on the back of a bison. Hunter saw the “huge panther” chewing on the bison’s neck muscles. He shot the cougar and eventually killed it with another shot. Daniel Boone also saw a cougar riding the back of a bison in Kentucky. He too shot the cougar, possibly saving that particular bison." Though it doesn't specify whether they were adult bison I would imagine they were given the description of the neck muscles, however even tackling a sub adult is a tall order. Now we cant conclude that they would have been able to execute the kill, but the attempt in itself is impressive.
Our second winner of Behaviour: Mammals is Germany’s Ingo Arndt. Fur flies as the puma launches her attack on the guanaco in this powerful, beautiful composition, held together by the energy of their movement. Ingo had spent seven months tracking wild pumas on foot. #WPY55
 *This image is copyright of its original author https://twitter.com/NHM_WPY/status/1184196896090406912 
Personally, just because a female cougar can kill a bull elk seven times her weight does not mean an exceptionally large male cougar (which is extremely rare as even a cougar above 200 pounds is rare and exceptional) which can reach close to 300 pounds can kill an animal close to the size of a bison. This is probably due to the square root cube law which makes mass increase faster than strength. Yet a male cougar is pound to pound stronger than its female counterpart. Despite this cougars are the only felines that prey on animals seven times their weight.
 *This image is copyright of its original author http://domainofthebears.proboards.com/thread/529/cougar-bear?page=4 According to this chart, elk which can be seven to eight times the weight of a cougar is included in its diet yet there is hardly any record of cougars preying on bear cubs. 
Credits: Onçafari
posted in October 2013 Pantanal Puma relaxed eating kill ( with a Jag 100 meters in the background ) Caiman Ecological Refuge is renowned for its healthy jaguar population. What isn’t as well known is that the second largest cat in the Americas, the Puma, is also present here in good numbers. Mountain Lion, Cougar, Lynx and Panther are all names, which may be used to describe the puma. The puma is significantly smaller than the jaguar and by in large these two predators avoid any interaction. The jaguar is much larger and stronger and it stands to reason that the puma will be weary of the spotted cat. Projeto Onçafari is hoping that in the process of habituating the jaguars of the area, that we will also be relaxing the puma population. With time, this may become the best place in the world to view these two big cats in the wild. Have a look at the footage below and you will understand what I mean. What you cannot see in the above footage is that literally 100m away, at the exact same time, was a female jaguar feeding on another kill. The entire scene took place in the short grass at around 7pm in the evening. From the safety and comfort of the car we were able to view both magnificent cats at the same time. Turn to the left and see a puma, shine the spotlight and see jaguar! I never believed that would be possible.  *This image is copyright of its original author My favourite picture of a Puma that I have been able to take. A remarkable capture of a secretive cat. The puma was content to feed on her prize, knowing that the jaguar was happily feeding on her own kill. However, the second that the jaguar began to roar, the puma sprinted away in opposite direction. She was confident and relaxed with the vehicle, but the prospect of a confrontation with the jaguar was to be avoided at all costs. Onçafari. (In my personal opinion the Puma is one of the TOP most beautiful cats in the planet, it's so damn gorgeous bro  ).
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credits: onçafariPuma preying on agouati 
Female South American cougar against a guanaco about 3 times her weight: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-pum...7#pid94837
credits: pousadapiquiri
Puma hunting down a Capybara in the rain. Pantanal.
''Puma returns to fetch calf cattle carcass he killed the night before. They live in the Legal Reserves of the farms and it is common to feed on domestic cattles in Brazil. ''
Puma hunting a Caatinga Deer right in front of the camera trap - Brazil
Predation of water buffalo calf in Pantanal
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Predation on wild horses
"Even in a part of California with one of the densest cougar populations, M166 can only do so much. He has killed more than 30 horses since June of 2017. At the scene of one of the killings, he also killed a beaver. At another, a dove. “This lion, he is just wired for horse,” said David Garcelon, president of the Institute for Wildlife Studies, which is collaring and researching cougars in Northern California. “It was one of those things where you go in the first time, and it’s ‘Oh my gosh, he’s taken a horse — look at this,’ and everyone is calling each other and you’re shooting pictures, and the next time, he’s taken two horses now, and pretty soon, you’re like ‘Everything he takes is a horse.’ One after another after another.” Experts wowed by the mountain lion’s prowess at hunting horses say they only wish M166 was a she instead of a he. “If it was a female, we’d be really excited because she’d be teaching her youngsters how to do that as well,” Garcelon said. “For a male, they come in do their business with their lady friend, and that’s usually the last of their involvement. It’s the female and what they feed on that helps the youngsters learn what they’re going to be killing and going after.”  *This image is copyright of its original author https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/me...ler-horses
Ferocious appetites: Study finds mountain lions may be eating more than previously believed
"Knopff basis his conclusions on data collected from more than 1,500 kill sites while tracking 54 cougars with GPS collars. The collars allowed the University of Alberta researchers, including his wife Aliah, to move in quickly after a kill to identify what was taken and by which lion. ..... The use of GPS collars enabled Knopff and his colleagues to collect more data. As a result, he found that mountain lions killed more deer, elk and moose during the summer by focusing on juveniles and actually killed fewer animals in winter. The information contradicts previous studies conducted in Idaho. ....The mountain lions' prey included deer, elk, bighorn sheep, coyotes, feral horses, beaver and porcupines. ....Adult male cougars can weigh 140 to 165 pounds. One male cougar in Knopff's study tipped the scales at 180 pounds and primarily fed on moose and feral horses. Females typically weigh around 100 pounds. From nose to tail the big cats can measure 6.5 to 10 feet long. The average lifespan for a male is 8 to 10 years, 12 to 14 for females. ..... “Our kill rate estimates indicate that adult cougars are highly effective predators, killing at rates at the upper end of those recorded for wolves in both frequency and biomass,” Knopff wrote. .... “We had one male cougar kill 18 moose in less than a year,” Knopff said. https://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/r...570b6.html |
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