The Eastern Cougar
by Stephen
Surprisingly, the Eastern Cougar cannot roar. Did you know the slim, giant Eastern Cougar, eats thousands of pounds of meat a year, lives up in mountains and is protected in all states that it roams in.
It’s hard to believe but the Cougars tail is half the size of their body. The male and the female weighs up to 250 pounds but the adult average weight is 140 pounds. Also the male is 4 ½ to 5 feet long and females are 4-4 ½ feet long. The Puma’s beautiful thick fur’s color is reddish or brown. The Cougars snout is white and is bordered with black that reaches the bottom of their eye. It’s amazing that the Puma (another name for cougars) has binocular vision which means they can see a very far distance. The Puma has big, round ears. You should see their 30 vicious teeth. 15 of the teeth are used for biting into the preys flesh (killing it) and the other are for slicing or chewing flesh.
It’s incredible that the Eastern Cougar eats 3,000 pounds of meat each year. Its preferred meal is deer. The Cougar is often in competition with wolves for prey. When this carnivore attacks its prey it gets within 50 feet and takes a great bounce onto the back of its prey and bites the prey’s neck. The Eastern cougar mates every 2 years between April-September but mostly in the spring. Also this animal is not monogamous (1 mate), although the same couples usually mate year after year. A female Cougar has to go through a three month gestation period. They can have 1-6 cubs at a time. The first 2 weeks the cubs can’t see or hear. At birth the cubs have speckled fur, and blue eyes. In adulthood, their fur turns gray. When they’re 10-20 days old they weigh 2 pound. After a few months their spots go away and the cubs remain with their mother for 2 more years.
Did you know the puma doesn’t have a main shelter? The fierce cat lives in hills and mountains that have rich vegetation where they can also find food they are looking for like deer and other animals. The Eastern Cougar is found in the southeastern part of the United States in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Unfortunately, the vicious unique cat is endangered. This means that their population is on the verge of disappearing from the earth. The main cause of this fierce cat becoming endangered is hunting, lack of food to eat, and farmers destroying their habitat. The cougar is protected in all of the states it lives in. It is also protected by the Fish and Wildlife Service (F.W.S.). It is internationally protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Treaty (CITES).
As you can see, these fierce, fast paced cougars, with their reddish fur, may soon be extinct unless the FWS, with our help, can save the Eastern Cougar from disappearing from the earth. The Ellijoy Wildlife Rehab Sanctuary will accept donations to help this forgotten cat. Please donate.