That's a ranch house you see on the valley floor below. Cattle graze down there, unaware of the danger above. People go about their daily work, oblivious to North America's largest cat. There are more than 40 names in English for this cat. Cougar, Puma, Painter, Mountain Lion... A big male like this one can weigh 200 lbs, and stand 2.5' high at the shoulder. It's likely that he's bigger than you. Its scream, reverbrating across the valley in the night air, will send a chill down the spine of the most seasoned … (28 comments)
mountain lion: Cougar. Mountain Lion. Tigre'. Whatever You Call Her, You're Going To Like This Zoo.
- 10/23/09 04:21 PM
Cougar. Mountain Lion. Tigre'. The Indians I grew up with in Suriname, South America never saw one of these North American cats. The one they feared was the Jaguar. They called it "Kai Kwi." Don't come to Tucson without visiting the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. It's one of the world's ten best zoos. This magnificent cat isn't cooped up in a 20 x 20 cage with a concrete floor. She's the beneficiary of some of the most forward thinking zookeepers on the planet. My Darlin' and I live six miles from the "Desert Museum." Most of that six miles … (35 comments)
Elsewhere in the West, and in most parts of country, I've heard these big cats called Cougars. Here in Arizona we call them Mountain Lions. You've read stories in the past few years about joggers in California being attacked by them. It's not hard to imagine. These are very powerful animals. This one lives with its mate at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. It's only three miles from our home in the Tucson Mountains, and a few years ago, my Darlin' and I saw one of these in our backyard.
Whenever out-of-town guests come to … (27 comments)
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