No... I sure wouldnt want to run into one!
Well, maybe at about 1/2 mile away ... or if I was out in a lake on a boat.
* I saw this article (Couple days ago) and was of course - curious immediately.
Upon further investigation, they believe it too have been a
"PET".
The population of the reclusive cats may have also been supported domesticated cougars that had escaped over the years.
There were reports that the cat shot Saturday appeared to have been declawed.
* NOT A WILD "natural" Cougar.
Either way, not something that you'd want to meet out in the woods .... unless you had some "Whiskers Cat Treats" *SMILES*
_________________________
Out west (Calgary) me and my brother (Steven) were fishing in the Kananaskis.
Coming around a bend in the Trib we saw a Mother GRIZZLY and her 2 Cubs.
They were about 50 yds up the river bank, eating berries on the side.
OMG .... It was a beautiful sight and also made me want to wet my pants. (I sure was putting out the "FEAR PHEOMONE")
We back off slowly ... and went right back to the car.
We didnt go back to that spot for over a year.
Call it paranoia .... I called it KNOWING where I was on the FOOD CHAIN!
http://www.ontariopuma.ca/index.html
The Puma (
Puma concolor), also known as the cougar, mountain lion, and eastern panther, once ranged across North & South America from the southern tip of the Yukon Territory in Canada to the southern tip of Patagonia in Argentina. The range west to east was from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean in all varieties of habitat. After the European settlement in North America, the Puma was persecuted resulting in the disappearance of the species from much of its range. In Ontario, the puma (
P.c. couguar NA) was almost hunted to near extinction and by the late 1800s it's numbers may have been as low as forty individuals. Since the turn of the century the puma was no longer hunted in Ontario and has slowly gained its original range over the last 100 years. Currently there is an estimated 550 North American pumas in the province and their numbers are increasing steadily to a sustainable population.
In the spring of 2002, a group of people interested in the research and rehabilitation of the Puma in Ontario discussed the possibility of forming an organization.
Collaborating their information from several years of sightings, the objectives and strategies were evolved and the Ontario Puma Foundation (OPF) was born (Charitable Status No. 863385803 RR0001). The Ministry of Natural Resources status of the North American Puma in Ontario is
endangered. Based on the most current scientific research, the OPF is the leading organization in Ontario assisting the puma to a healthy recovery.
The Puma (
Puma concolor) may also be known in Ontario as cougar, mountain lion, or eastern panther. There are over forty other names for this one cat making it the most named creature in the Western Hemisphere. To take advantage of its prey the colour of the Ontario Puma may be brownish-gray like the white-tailed deer, reddish-brown like the moose or light beige like the woodland caribou. Its undersides are buff-white, the chin, throat, and chest area are white and the sides of the jaw, back of its rounded ears and the tip of its long tail are black. Young Pumas up to six months old have black spots and streaked tails that fade as they grow older. Males may be 1.7 to 2.7 metres long and weigh between 60 to 100 kilograms while females may be 1.5 to 2.3 metres long and weigh between 35 to 60 kilograms. These lengths include the tail which is approximately one third of its length.
The Puma walks on its toes, has padded feet, and webbing and hair between its toes creating a stealth hunter. It also has large temporalis and masseter muscles along with large canine teeth to sever the spinal cord of its prey. Further back in the mouth the Puma has sharp carnassial teeth which enable it to sheer off large chunks of meat which it swallows whole. The Ontario Puma will prey on white-tailed deer, moose, woodland caribou, beaver, hare, rabbit, grouse, skunk, woodchuck, and for experienced Pumas, porcupine.
The Puma is polyestrous therefore they may breed at any time of the year but late winter or early spring is more common. Males are polygamous, mating with several females surrounding his home territory. Females are monogamous, mating with only one male. After a gestation period of three months the female gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens. The kittens are weaned at approximately three months and will stay with the mother up to two years.
The male Puma has a range of 150 to 1000 square kilometres while the female may have a range of only 65 to 500 square kilometres - ranges will overlap with each other. To put this into perspective, Algonquin Park is 7600 square kilometres.
