WEBVTT - What's the Difference Between Cougars, Pumas, and Mountain Lions?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbotan here. The cougar holds one of the Guinness World

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<v Speaker 1>Records for having the most names. It's referred to as

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<v Speaker 1>the puma, panther, mountain cat, mountain, lion, mountain screamer, painter,

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<v Speaker 1>and catamount, just to list a few. The cougar has

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<v Speaker 1>more monikers than almost any other living mammal, around forty

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<v Speaker 1>in English alone. That's because the name used for this

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<v Speaker 1>animal depends on its location, and there are a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of those across the Americas. Cougars have a fast and

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<v Speaker 1>powerful muscular body, a sharp eyesight and keen hearing, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as the ability to swim, climb trees, and jump

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<v Speaker 1>long distances. This adaptability means cougars can be found thriving

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<v Speaker 1>in many varied habitats, from these southern Andes and South

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<v Speaker 1>America to the Yukon in Canada, and everywhere from forests

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<v Speaker 1>to deserts. The different names evolved from local peoples around

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<v Speaker 1>the Inca Empire on the western coast of what's now

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<v Speaker 1>South America. The animal was called a puma. The Guarinee

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<v Speaker 1>peoples from further east had a word that I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>sure of the pronunciation of that eventually became cougar when

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<v Speaker 1>Europeans arrived. A panther roots from an ancient Greek term

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<v Speaker 1>for mid sized cats and mountain lion was probably coined

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<v Speaker 1>by Spanish colonizers, who labeled the animal both lyons meaning

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<v Speaker 1>lion and ghetto monte, meaning cat of the mountain. No

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<v Speaker 1>matter what you call the cougar, however, it is still

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<v Speaker 1>the same cat, a species name puma con color. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the largest of these small cat species. There are some

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<v Speaker 1>slight differences in populations of cougars from different areas because

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<v Speaker 1>of their local climate, diet, and physical environment. For the

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<v Speaker 1>article this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with Charlie Jasper, who at the time was a property

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<v Speaker 1>security consultant around Los Angeles. He explained there are no

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<v Speaker 1>significant differences other than vernacular taxonomy. If you will, Panthers

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<v Speaker 1>in Florida and the southeastern United States, like most creatures there,

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<v Speaker 1>tend to be a little smaller. If you compare a

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<v Speaker 1>Carolinian white tailed deer with its equivalent up in Maine,

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<v Speaker 1>it's like looking at a labordoodle versus a wolf. In general,

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<v Speaker 1>most Cougars have slender bodies with somewhat round heads and

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<v Speaker 1>erect ears, and display a solid tawny colored coat, which

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<v Speaker 1>is how they got the name con color, with whitish

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<v Speaker 1>fur along their belly and slightly darker hair along their

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<v Speaker 1>back and around their ears, muzzle, paws, and at the

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<v Speaker 1>tip of their tail. In humid ecosystems, the animals tend

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<v Speaker 1>to be darker and reddish brown, while those living in

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<v Speaker 1>colder regions have a silvery gray coat that's thicker and longer.

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<v Speaker 1>Cougars are powerfully built, with large paws, retractable claws, and

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<v Speaker 1>sharp carnivore teeth. The hind legs are more muscular than

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<v Speaker 1>the fore legs, which enables them to jump over fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>feet or about five meters up or down trees or mountains.

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<v Speaker 1>Cougars have a flexible spine, much like that of a cheetah,

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<v Speaker 1>which allows them to maneuver and change directions abruptly. Adults

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<v Speaker 1>can grow up to about five to nine feet long,

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<v Speaker 1>including some two to three feet of tail. That's about

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<v Speaker 1>one and a half to three meters total. With up

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<v Speaker 1>to a meter of tail, they might weigh anywhere from

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<v Speaker 1>sixty five to two hundred and twenty pounds that's thirty

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<v Speaker 1>to one hundred kilos, with male cougars being larger and

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<v Speaker 1>heavier than female cougars. That is a lot of cat

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<v Speaker 1>and they are apex predators, so they should be considered dangerous,

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<v Speaker 1>though attacks on humans are extremely rare with many predators.

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<v Speaker 1>A cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human

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<v Speaker 1>stimulates a cougar's instinct to chase, or if a person

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<v Speaker 1>plays dead and seems like an easy target. In the

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<v Speaker 1>case of an attack, you're looking to make yourself seem

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<v Speaker 1>larger and more menacing with intense eye contact, a slow

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<v Speaker 1>waving of raised arms, loud but calm shouting, and even

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<v Speaker 1>throwing stones or sticks in the animal's direction to encourage

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<v Speaker 1>it to retreat. You can back away slowly, but don't

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<v Speaker 1>turn your back. If you live in an area with cougars,

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<v Speaker 1>keep a close watch on pets and be sure to

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<v Speaker 1>teach children to respect and avoid wild animals. The cougar

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<v Speaker 1>is a carnivore, which means it requires meat in its

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<v Speaker 1>diet and it will eat any animal it can catch,

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<v Speaker 1>from insects to large hoofed animals. Its primary prey are

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<v Speaker 1>various deer species, including mule deer, white tailed deer, elk,

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<v Speaker 1>and even moose, while other food bases can include larger

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<v Speaker 1>wild or domestic animals like goats, sheep, horses, cattle, lama,

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<v Speaker 1>and alpaca, of various rodents like porcupines, rabbits and capabera, weasels, birds,

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<v Speaker 1>and even semi aquatic life like sea lions and seals.

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<v Speaker 1>And Jasper said they'll go after other predators too to

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<v Speaker 1>reduce competition and feed themselves to boot. When cougars attack,

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<v Speaker 1>they usually employ a characteristic neck bite. In larger prey,

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<v Speaker 1>they attempt to position their teeth between the vertebra and

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<v Speaker 1>into the spinal cord, resulting in a fatal injury. They're

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<v Speaker 1>capable of breaking the neck of some of their smaller

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<v Speaker 1>prey with a strong bite. Kills are generally estimated at

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<v Speaker 1>around one large mammal every two weeks, while female cougars

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<v Speaker 1>raising their young may kill every three days. The cat

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<v Speaker 1>commonly drags a kill to a preferred spot, covers it

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<v Speaker 1>with brush, and returns to feed over several days. The

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<v Speaker 1>cougar wich generally is a non scavenger, meaning it rarely

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<v Speaker 1>consumes prey that it hasn't killed. Of the twenty subspecies

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<v Speaker 1>of cougar, three are considered endangered, the Florida panther, the

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<v Speaker 1>Eastern puma, and the Costa Rican puma. Cougar populations have

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<v Speaker 1>historically been hunted out of fear of the animals killing

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<v Speaker 1>rancher's livestock, but with human populations continuing to expand into

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<v Speaker 1>the animal's habitat, it's likely that there will be increased

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<v Speaker 1>human animal conflict that may necessitate continued protection. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article What's the Difference between a

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<v Speaker 1>Mountain Lion and a Cougar? On how Stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>written by Wendy Bowman and brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.