![]() Like any wildlife, mountain lions can be dangerous. These large, powerful predators have always lived here, preying on plentiful deer and and playing an important role in the ecosystem. This simple fact is a surprise to many residents and visitors. Much of Colorado, including La Plata County, is prime mountain lion country. They are weaned about six weeks of age, at about eight times their birth weight. Two or three spotted,fist-sized (about one pound) kittens are a typical litter. Births are most common in July,after a gestation period of about 14 weeks. Reproduction: Mountain lions may breed at any time of year, but mating peaks in the spring. The cat gorges on the carcass until it can eat no more, covers the remainder with leaves or conifer needles, then fasts for a few days, digesting and resting. The deer is often killed cleanly with a broken neck. Cougars hunt by stealth, often pouncing on prey from a tree or rock overhanging a game trail. Adults maintain their condition by eating a deer a week. They are more at home in brushy areas and woodlands than in forests or open prairies.ĭiet: Active year round, the lion’s staple diet is deer. Habitat: In Colorado they are most abundant in foothills, canyons or mesa country. ![]() ![]() Once they ranged from coast to coast in the United States,but today eastern populations are extinct or endangered the West is their stronghold. Range: Cougars have the largest geographic range of any American native mammal other than humans – from western Canada to Argentina. ![]()
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