Puma (
Puma concolor)
The puma is often referred to as a cougar, a mountain lion, catamount, and even as a panther, although this is incorrect. The word "puma" comes from the native language of Peru, and the word "cougar" comes from its native Brazilian name, "cuguacuarana". Puma is pronounced "poo-mah", not "pew-mah".
Cougars are polygamous. A male with a large home range is able to breed a large number of females, and this increases his reproductive success. A resident male usually attempts to maintain exclusive breeding rights with females within his area.
The male visits all the females he can find, continually searching for those in heat that will accept him, and marks out his territory with scent posts called scrapes. He may travel many kilometres in these searches; one male covered 50km in a day and a night. Fighting may occur initially, but once individuals are settled on a territory little strife occurs. This peaceful social system helps to maintain stable cougar populations.
Normally a silent hunter, the cougar, like any cat, becomes vocal when ready to breed. Female cougars in heat have been seen and heard yowling. Cougars do not breed in any special season, and the young may be born at any time of the year.
The females mate for the first time when they are two to three years old, and the gestation period is about 90 days. The female selects a sheltered spot, such as a cave or windfall, for her litter. From one to six cubs may be born, although rarely are more than three full-grown cubs found with the mother. The cubs are born with closed eyes that are fully open by the end of the second week. They are usually weaned at four to five weeks. Care of the cubs rests solely with the female, who brings them food and teaches them to hunt. She prevents the male from even approaching the small cubs, by combat if necessary, as the adult male has been known to eat them. The cubs stay with the female until they are about one and a half years old, by which time the male kittens are larger than their mother. In spite of her instructions in the rudiments of survival, the cubs have a difficult time when they are first on their own. Resident females usually produce litters every 18-24 months. In the southwestern foothills of Alberta, the rate at which kittens reached independence was close to two kittens per female per year over a seven-year period.
(source:
http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/hww-fap/...cies=57&lang=e)
Mountain lions are solitary animals. Their solitary existence is interrupted during the breeding season and during the period of juvenile dependence. Population densities vary from as low as one individual per 85 square kilometers to as high as one per 13 to 54 square kilometers. These mammals space themselves so that local food supplies and other essentials are not depleted. Females with dependent cubs live within the wide space used by the resident male. Residents mark their territories by depositing urine or fecal materials by the trees they marked with scrapes. The mountain lion is primarily nocturnal in its activity. It acquaints itself with its environment and food sources by relying mainly on vision, smell, and hearing. The mountain lion vocalizes with low-pitched hisses, growls, and purrs to get attention. The loud, chirping whistle by the young serves to direct the mother's attention to the cub. Males are found together immediately after leaving their mother, but rarely as established adults. The mountain lion has summer and winter home areas in different locations, requiring a migration between ranges.
Pumas are found in almost all of South America, all of central America, Mexico, the western United States, and southwestern Canada.
(http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/puma/p._concolor$narrative.html)