Cougar, puma, catamount, screamer, devil cat, silver lion—the mountain lion is known by these and other names across its historic habitat. At one time, mountain lions roamed almost all of the lower 48 states; in fact, they ranged from northern British Columbia to southern Chile and Argentina. But persecution and suburban sprawl have pushed them almost entirely into remote areas of the west. One subspecies remaining on the east coast, the Florida panther, is highly endangered.
Mother and Cub
Solitary creatures, mountain lions generally avoid one another (and humans), with the exception of mothers and their kittens. At birth they have blue eyes that later turn brown, and they have spots that begin to fade quickly at about 12–14 weeks, around the time they begin to accompany their mother on hunts. Kittens stay with their mother for one to two years, almost completely dependent on her for food. A mother will leave her young at a kill site, sometimes for a few days, while looking for the next meal. Kittens orphaned by hunters have been observed going from the latest kill site to previous ones in search of their mothers. It's hard to distinguish between male and female mountain lions, so a successful hunter has a good chance of leaving behind orphaned cubs, most of whom won't survive.
Lion-Speak
Mountain lions have a stationary hyoid apparatus (a bone near the base of the skull that supports the floor of the mouth), allowing them to purr, but not to roar. Communication is largely visual and olfactory; between mother and cubs, it's mostly tactile and vocal. Kittens make a loud chirping whistle that gets the mom's attention. Adults also have a lower-pitched squeal that attracts attention. Adult males and sometimes adult females make "scrapes"—small piles of dirt kicked up with their hind feet—within their territories, usually in places where topography would allow easy access to their territory (e.g., the mouth of a canyon). Individuals visiting a scrape often change direction immediately afterward, so scrapes probably serve as territory markers. Adult males also make scrapes when courting females.
