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Characteristics of the Cougar

The cougar's primary characteristics are tawny brown hide and a long tail.

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Characteristics, Cougar, Natural History, Mountain Lion

Ever the hunter, a mother cougar, joined by a magpie perched above her, surveys the landscape of the Jackson Hole National Elk Refuge for prey. © 1999 Tom Mangelsen

There are two principal characteristics to look for in identifying a cougar: A uniform (concolor means "of one color") tawny, grey-brown or red-brown coat, and a very long tail.

Cougars' haunches demonstrate nature's exquisite design: The cat's rear limbs are slightly longer than the fore limbs, enabling cougars to leap both vertically and horizontally. The cat's head is relatively small, compared to other wild felids, with green to amber colored eyes set close together to maximize visual acuity and distance sight. (In contrast, deer's eyes are set far apart, to take in maximum peripheral information such as predators and other threats.) Muscular yet somewhat short, stocky limbs lead to large paws with retractable claws. Capable of climbing, cougars will retreat to the relative saftey of trees to flee from danger, wolves, and dogs. The Cougar's paw prints (pug marks) are identified by four tow marks and a characteristic tri-lobed heel pad; claw marks are not usually present. Cougars are not great distance runners or excellent sprinters (as is the cheetah) but lope at a fairly even, long-striding pace. Their long tail is used to counter-balance their graceful movements.

[+ ZOOM] This cougar kitten has almost entirely lost its spots, and is nearing sexual maturity. © Tom Mangelsen

While cougar kittens are born with spotted coats and black rings on their tails, the spots fade to dapples at around 9 months old, with all signs of dapples disappearing from the pelage by 24-30 months, roughly the time when the cubs reach sexual maturity.

Male cougars are around 40% heavier than females, and average around 150 pounds versus 105 pounds for females. Males and females look similar, and determining the gender of a cat in the field is difficult to the point of being controversial. Some cougar sport hunters, believing they are killing a trophy-sized male cougar, often misidentify males for females. The thrill of the chase, the difficulty in assessing the size of a treed cougar, and the presence of anxious, paying, time-strapped hunting clients and outfitters are just a few of the factors that result in a female kill rate of 47% across the 12 states where cougars are legally killed for sport. Males may be accurately identified by a spot of black guard hairs indicating the penile sheath or, more subtly, whitish silver hairs on the scrotum.

Cougar sightings in the wild are extremely rare and are also frequently misidentifications. One study in Oregon found that only 7% of more than 800 cougar incident reports made to the Fish and Game Department in a 30-month period could be confirmed or substantiated. In other cases, animals ranging from very large housecats to yellow Labrador retrievers to even deer were mistaken for cougars when reports were followed up on by officials.

Cougars are obligate, opportunistic carnivores, meaning that their diet is principally meat-they eat mainly deer and elk. They are also adept at hunting smaller animals such as porcupines. One cougar consumes roughly one deer every week to ten days, possibly more if it is a mother raising cubs. Solitary hunters, cougars depend on stalking and ambush, tactics employed to take down prey often 7 times their size.

Do you think you saw cougar tracks?

Check out these track identification guides!

1.) Cooper's Mountain Lion Sanctuary Tracking Guide

2.) Canine vs. Feline Tracking