The puma, North America's largest wild cat, uses its amazing strength and speed to stalk and kill its prey. This cat's long, powerful back legs allow it to spring nearly 20 feet into the air and leap twice as far to attack. Strong and fast enough to kill animals twice its size, a hungry puma may attack anything it meets-even a person.
Tail Spin: The puma's long, thick tail can be one-third of the cat's total length. The tail acts as a balance, enabling the puma to spring long distances and land right on target. Without its tail to steady it, the puma might land on its face instead of its feet.
Terrible Teeth: This predator's massive teeth are designed for grabbing prey and ripping it apart. Its canines are large and heavy, while its front teeth are small, straight and knife-sharp.
Silent and Deadly[]
The puma's muscular hind legs make it an excellent leaper.
Crouching as it silently approaches its prey on padded feet, the puma explodes suddenly into action. With two or three lightning-fast bounds, it pounces from behind, before its surprised prey can escape. A bone-crushing bite at the base of the skull breaks the animal's neck. Though deer are the puma's favorite meal, these hunting skills make it easy for pumas to kill smaller prey, such as rabbits, or animals as large as elk and moose.
Cat Calls: A small bone in its throat keeps the puma from roaring like lions and other big cats. But the puma has a long, blood-curdling cry that's sure to strike fear into anyone who hears it along a mountain trail.
Scaredy Cats: Although dangerous to people, farm animals and their neighbors in the wild, pumas are shy and seldom seen. They usually avoid meeting humans and, like their house cat cousins, are frightened at the sound of a barking dog.
American Cousins[]
- One of the puma's close cousins, the ocelot is found from Arizona to South America. Like pumas, they are excellent climbers and hunt by springing on their prey. They're only one-sixth of the puma's size, and survive on the small animals that pumas think of as snacks.
- Bobcats share the puma's northern habitats, and are found throughout the U.S. They're smaller than pumas and look a lot different, with spots and very short tails-only 6 inches long. Bobcats use similar hunting tactics to the puma's, but usually hunt at night.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The puma is mentioned several other cards:
- It is mentioned on the Black Panthers knowledge card, as panther is another name for the puma.
- It’s mentioned as a relative of the Jaguarundi on the latter’s knowledge card.
- It is one of the animals Dr. Moreau experimented on to make Beast People on its knowledge card.
- The puma is featured on several Monster Mania cards:
- It's trading card is featured in the explanation for Battle of the Monsters Trading Card Game 6 on Monster Mania 54.
- The puma itself is featured in It's All Relative! on Monster Mania 98.