Poll: Have you seen a wild puma?

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Have you seen a puma in the wild?

  • No, never seen.

    Votes: 85 58.6%

  • Possibly, brief glimpse but not sure of id.

    Votes: 2 1.4%

  • Yes, seen but not photographed.

    Votes: 42 29.0%

  • Yes, seen and photographed.

    Votes: 16 11.0%
  • Total voters
    145
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gKhan said:
I have been following this thread and find it interesting that no one has mentioned hearing the sounds they make. Hearing them was quite exciting and interesting.

I assume it was a cougar I was hearing one morning, while it was still pitch black out on a moonless night. I was sitting and leaning against a tree prior to sun up on a muzzle loading elk hunt.

You could hear something running very fast thru the trees in or above a gully and loudly screaming like a man or woman on fire. I was amazed that something could run that fast thru the forest in the mountains. The scream seemed to last about four to five seconds and then stopped but resumed again after a short pause. Then everything went back to dead silence again.

From the noise the animal (and quarry?) made running thru the brush and trees I assumed it was a large animal, significantly larger than a bobcat, for example. It seemed to run as fast as a person running on a road so I went to that spot later that day and there was no trail, no road, nor camp anywhere at all near that area. I was looking for sign that the sound might have been made by a person but did not think to look for signs of an animal kill or carcass. By process of elimination I figure that was a lion---but I could be wrong.

I'd appreciate any insight or explanation someone might have regarding similar incidents like this.
Thanks
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From what I've read screaming is part of mating, it's how two lions find each other since their ranges are so large and they are so solitary. The mountain lion can't roar because its larynx isn't set up that way. I'm told they can purr, though :) African lions roar, but they can't purr.
 
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eaj101 said:
From what I've read screaming is part of mating, it's how two lions find each other since their ranges are so large and they are so solitary. The mountain lion can't roar because its larynx isn't set up that way. I'm told they can purr, though :) African lions roar, but they can't purr.
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Thanks for the reply. I didn't know that, but if fits everything I heard, so I'll believe it was a mountain lion. In fact, thinking back about 35 years, the second scream could have come from a separate source. Thanks too for the African lion info.
 
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I
MrFotoFool said:
One of their older nicknames (I think) was mountain screamer.
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I can't believe that I've never heard that name before. I must have heard it but have forgotten it. Thanks for the information. It sounds like something that the penny novels might have come up with in the 1800's.
I googled mountain screamer and there were many vids showing them screaming. I guess I was very fortunate to hear them live.
Thanks.
 
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gKhan said:
I have been following this thread and find it interesting that no one has mentioned hearing the sounds they make. Hearing them was quite exciting and interesting.

I assume it was a cougar I was hearing one morning, while it was still pitch black out on a moonless night. I was sitting and leaning against a tree prior to sun up on a muzzle loading elk hunt.

You could hear something running very fast thru the trees in or above a gully and loudly screaming like a man or woman on fire. I was amazed that something could run that fast thru the forest in the mountains. The scream seemed to last about four to five seconds and then stopped but resumed again after a short pause. Then everything went back to dead silence again.

From the noise the animal (and quarry?) made running thru the brush and trees I assumed it was a large animal, significantly larger than a bobcat, for example. It seemed to run as fast as a person running on a road so I went to that spot later that day and there was no trail, no road, nor camp anywhere at all near that area. I was looking for sign that the sound might have been made by a person but did not think to look for signs of an animal kill or carcass. By process of elimination I figure that was a lion---but I could be wrong.

I'd appreciate any insight or explanation someone might have regarding similar incidents like this.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Mountain Lions will also make injured baby sounds to attract prey. I have heard that more often than a roar but North American Mountain Lions are very low key. Mostly we just see tracks.
 
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Mal Paso said:
Mountain Lions will also make injured baby sounds to attract prey. I have heard that more often than a roar but North American Mountain Lions are very low key. Mostly we just see tracks.
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I don't think that's correct. They make sounds that are similar to birds, but that has nothing to do with hunting. They hunt by staying quiet and stalking, not by attracting animals to them.
 
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Mal Paso said:
Mountain Lions will also make injured baby sounds to attract prey. I have heard that more often than a roar but North American Mountain Lions are very low key. Mostly we just see tracks.
Click to expand...
Could those sounds you heard be soft cow elk calls? I've never heard of mountain lions trying to attract prey.
 
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gKhan said:
I have been following this thread and find it interesting that no one has mentioned hearing the sounds they make. Hearing them was quite exciting and interesting.

I assume it was a cougar I was hearing one morning, while it was still pitch black out on a moonless night. I was sitting and leaning against a tree prior to sun up on a muzzle loading elk hunt.

You could hear something running very fast thru the trees in or above a gully and loudly screaming like a man or woman on fire. I was amazed that something could run that fast thru the forest in the mountains. The scream seemed to last about four to five seconds and then stopped but resumed again after a short pause. Then everything went back to dead silence again.

From the noise the animal (and quarry?) made running thru the brush and trees I assumed it was a large animal, significantly larger than a bobcat, for example. It seemed to run as fast as a person running on a road so I went to that spot later that day and there was no trail, no road, nor camp anywhere at all near that area. I was looking for sign that the sound might have been made by a person but did not think to look for signs of an animal kill or carcass. By process of elimination I figure that was a lion---but I could be wrong.

I'd appreciate any insight or explanation someone might have regarding similar incidents like this.
Thanks
Click to expand...
This was definitely a Sasquatch pretending to be a mountain lion
 
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In the early 50s when in high school, I and some of the "guys" were exploring Sandia Cave in the Sandra Mountains last of Albuquerque NM. I was 4-5 back in the group and not completely in the cave when the 1st & 2nd ones were retreating fast. Just as we all cleared the cave enterence out came the mountain lion and he then moved up the hill at a high speed as we moved down the trail (generally in the opposite direction) at a high speed. Much laughing and joking ensued by us -- not the mountain lion.
 
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Another cougar here but not seen except for a print left 50' from my door. My neighbor took the picture and texted it, quality isn't great but the rear pad is correct. Deer are thick right now. One buck and 5 does here this morning, that's Fast Food for cougars.
cougarprint.jpg
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My viewing story is pretty boring. We went to Torres del Paines in Patagonia, and it's really pretty common to see pumas there. We were there 4 days, and saw them 2 days without really trying. This one family was just hanging by a main road leading into the park.

Its an amazing place, and I was lucky to get there for the hiking and views alone. The pumas and other wildlife were bonuses!
 
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I have seen 3 but never had a chance to photograph them. The first was in about 2015 south of my home about two miles. I live and farm about 17 miles east of Lubbock, Tx. This one was watched and seen in and area about 10 miles by 15 miles. Could have been two but most believe it was just a single. A couple of years later i saw two near a big sand dune covered with shinery oak. Think thery were a mating pair. i was about a quarter mile away and they were big cats with long tails. The third one i saw was at Bosque Del Apache in 2021 on the north side. it dashed in front of my truck as we were going around the north loop. It had a tracking collar around its neck.

Last year some guys were out hunting feral hogs with dogs. One of the dogs came out bleeding badly around its neck and claw marks. The dog died and they were quite certain it was a cougar.

I have seen tracks around one of the stock ponds I go to on a regular basis. Two years ago a man and his son were out in a cotton field next to where the stock pond was in the pasture. As he was working out in field he saw a big cat with two kittens. Only cats we have around are Cougars and Bobcats.

Have also seen a couple of pics from game cameras close to this same area.
 
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We saw one leap completely across a two lane highway in the mountains of northern California at dawn. Its tail was straight out behind it. Amazing athletic ability! We were driving, so of course no photo.
The closest encounter we had was getting up in the morning from our tent in a narrow Utah canyon and seeing palm sized prints in the moist sandy soil right next to the tent. Happy we slept through that....
 
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First heard them scream at night. Set the ranch horses off to running for a long time. Next saw one walk under the clothes line in back of house at ranch. This was Colorado.
In Arizona had two grown kittens watching me while I was monitoring a Peregrine territory. That was kind of scary because they didn't seem scared of me, just more curious than anything else. Had also likely heard their mom killing a deer, lots of thrashing and then dragging sound. This was before I saw the two kittens. When kids left area, they walked along rubbing on rocks like house cats rub on furniture. Guess a cat is a cat. :)
 
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Although I have a cabin with lots of evidence of mt lion activity all around it I have never seen the cat(s). One even came onto the porch of a neighbor tryiing to ge their dog. I would like to see it but no luck in 41 years.
 
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It's got to be 15 or more years now since friends of mine, a older couple, lived in a house at the bottom of this ridge. She liked to take naps in the afternoon and one afternoon was woken by the neighbor's dog who had somehow gotten into the house and chased their cat under the bed she was sleeping on. The dog was half under the bed, all she saw was the back and tail so she rolled up a magazine and swatted the dog on his rump. When the dog backed out it was obviously not a dog but a mountain lion. Hearing the commotion the lady's husband entered the room making a 3 way standoff. The cougar first tried to get out through the full length dressing mirror shattering it finally getting out the door it came in. Not a scratch except the early American style door the cougar pushed through to get in!
 
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