Here are 8 mountain lion facts that are sure to leave you impressed with this stunning Rocky Mountain animal.  I bet you didn’t know even half of these.

There are many animals in the Rocky Mountains, some of which tend to strike more fear into people than others.  One of the animals that I always was extremely cautious around was a mountain lion.  These large cats are a terrific predator and will eat large and small mammals.  Luckily, they don’t usually attack people, but you can read this other post on mountain lion safety with kids.

8 Mountain Lion Facts

A mountain lion goes by many names, including cougar, panther, and puma.

A mountain lion can run up to 35 or 40 mph.  That is much faster than a person!  The fastest man in the world ran at 27 mph when he set the world record.

They can jump super far and high.  In fact, they can jump as high as 15 feet and as far as 40 feet!

They are solitary animals, which means that they spend most of their lives living alone.  The only times they will be near other animals is during breeding time or as babies with their mom.  The mother raises the babies by herself and they will stay with her for up to 2 years before they leave to be on their own.

A cougar may eat up to one deer a week.  They will eat large and small mammals, such as deer, elk, mice, and squirrels.

They hunt alone.  They will sneak up on their prey, pounce on it from behind and try to break its neck by biting it at the base of its skull.  After killing something they will eat some, then bury the rest.  When they get hungry they will return to the buried prey and eat it.

They need a lot of room – their territory can vary from 10 square miles up to over 100 square miles.  Scientists estimate that there are about 30,000 cats in the wild.

Like most cats they will bury their scat/poop.  However, they don’t bury all of it.  Some of it they use to mark their territory by leaving in very conspicuous places.

If you are curious, you can always read this old post about mountain lion safety with kids.