The mountain lion, the Canada lynx, and the Bobcat are the 3 different species that, as a group, make up Colorado’s wild cats.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife lists Mountain lions and bobcats as game animals. On the other hand, Canada lynx in Colorado are protected under the federal endangered species act.
Mountain Lion (Puma concolor)
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, there are between 3000 and 7000 cougars in the state. It’s difficult to come up with a more precise estimate, though, due to their elusive nature.
Due to the fact that they live over a wide geographical area, mountain lions have a long list of regional names. In recent years, their scientific name was even changed from Felis concolor to Puma concolor. Some common names that mountain lions go by are cougar, panther painter, Andean Mountain lion, and puma.
In Colorado, the mountain lion is an apex predator. So are the state’s black bears and recently arrived wolves.
A big portion of the state of Colorado is suitable habitat for mountain lions. This includes but is not exclusive to the areas around the main population centers on the front range. On the western slope, cougar populations are on the increase. Human populations are also on the increase. For instance, per a February 15, 2020, Vail Dayley report, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 3 to 5 mountain lion-related calls per week. Source
What do mountain lions look like?
To visualize what a mountain lion looks like, picture a giant house cat with short tan hair. Mountain lions are much larger than domestic cats, though. An average house cat weighs around 10 pounds, while male mountain lions can weigh over 200 pounds.
These animals have lean, muscular bodies, rounded heads, and upright ears that are oval at the tip. Another characteristic of the mountain lion is its long, black-tipped tail, which accounts for almost one-third of its entire length. Their long tail helps them keep balanced as they navigate through uneven terrain.
Mountain lions have a light brown coat of short, coarse hair over most of their body. The area around their nose, the tip of their tail, and the tips of their ears are black. Their belly, the area above their upper lip, below their lower lip, and their chin are all white. They also have a sprinkling of dark hair on their backs. There are some coat color variances between different geographic locations.
Mountain lions are the fourth largest wildcat in the world. They are smaller in size only than the Jaguar in the Americas. However, worldwide, the African Lion and the Tiger are also larger.
Male and female mountain lions are phenotypically identical in every respect except for size. Males are 30 to 40% bigger than females. Though sizes vary considerably throughout the cat’s geographic range, an adult male typically weighs between 110 and 180 pounds, 50 to (82 kgs). A rare few of them grow bigger than 200 pounds (91kgs). Female mountain lions or queens average between 80 and 130 pounds (36 to 59 kgs). Adult males or toms will reach a length of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 M) from their snout to the tip of their tail. On the other hand, adult females are 5 to7 feet long (1.5 to 2.1 M).
A fun fact is that despite their large size, they are not taxonomically classified as big cats because they cannot roar. Leopards, for example, are smaller than mountain lions, but since they can roar and cannot purr, they are classified as big cats while mountain lions are not. Another interesting thing that I can mention here is that mountain lions purr.
Since they purr and cannot roar, mountain lions are in the Felis genus, while big cats that cannot purr and can roar are in the Panthera genus.
What do mountain lions eat?
Mountain lions mainly prey on deer. In fact, on average, an adult mountain lion kills a deer or the equivalent of a deer in biomass once a week. They also prey on other animals.
In Colorado, mountain lions prey on mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorns, feral horses, coyotes, raccoons, birds, rats, porcupines, skunks, snakes, pets, livestock, and literally any other native wildlife they can catch.
Where are mountain lions typically found?
Mountain lions live on all three of the American continents. Their range begins in Canada’s Yukon territory and extends south through parts of North America, Central America, and South America to the southern tip of Argentina.
As of the year 2017, mountain lions are taxonomically divided into 2 sub-species. The first is (Puma concolor couguar) or northern cougar. Northern cougars range through North America, Central America, and possibly northwestern South America. The second sub-species is (Puma concolor concolor) or southern cougar. These cats range only in South America.
In Canada, the biggest populations of them are in British Columbia and Alberta. On the other hand, in the United States, they mainly live in the western states and Florida in the southeast. In Florida, the cougar is called the Florida panther.
A big portion of the centennial state is prime mountain lion habitat. This includes but is not exclusive to the areas around the main population centers on the front range. Deer are a mountain lion’s preferred prey. It stands to reason that they will be most numerous in areas with high deer populations. Colorado’s habitats that include desert, sagebrush steppes, pinyon pine, juniper, oak brush, mountain mahogany, ponderosa pine, and quaking aspen, create prime cougar habitat.
Mountain lion behavior
Mountain lions are solitary animals. It’s a Rarity to see 2 or more together unless during the time that they come together to mate or in the case of a female raising young.
They have expansive home territories. In fact, an adult cougar male’s home range is normally more than 100 square miles and up to 250 square miles. They will sometimes mark their territory by leaving claw marks on trees. They also scratch up piles of leaves and or pine needles that they urinate on as a scent marker.
Male mountain lions fight to the death sometimes to defend their territory.
Although they may do some moving around during daylight hours, cougars are crepuscular or nocturnal hunters, preferring to hunt during twilight and dark time hours.
A mountain lion is a formidably tough wild animal. They can run 40 to 50 miles per hour for short bursts and jump up to 40 feet with a running start. They can also leap 15 feet vertically from a flat-footed start. See
Mountain lion hunting in Colorado
The state of Colorado classifies mountain lions as game animals. A valid hunting license is required to hunt them. There are 2 cougar seasons in the state. The spring season in 2022 extended from April 1 to April 30, while the fall season will run from Nov 28th, 2022, to March 1st, 2023.
Hunting is a time-honored tradition in the United States. However, as our population becomes increasingly urban, an increasingly small minority of our population still has some connection with the outdoors, and a lot of those that do, have no understanding of hunting.
Recreational hunting, when consumption of the animal’s meat is not the object of the hunt, is viewed by a greater majority of this increasingly urbanized population to be an unethical needless practice. What they term as trophy hunting of mountain lions is viewed by some with disdain.
In the spring of 2022, some Colorado legislators sponsored a senate bill (SB22-031) concerning Colorado’s wild cats. This bill would have banned all trophy hunting of wild cats and trapping of wild cats within the state.
The bill was referred to the Colorado senate agriculture and natural resources committee, where it was voted down 4-1. The chief sponsor of SB22-031 states that she will soon be back with another bill crafted to pass more easily.
To a non-hunter, enacting a ban on the hunting and trapping of wild cats pushes all the right emotional buttons. However, Colorado Parks and Wildlife uses managed hunting of predators as a tool to macro manage all wildlife populations within the state.
Additionally, in areas where predator hunting is completely banned, and these animals lose their fear of humans, the percentages start to rise ever so slightly on the chances that one of them will view a human as a potential food item. This happened in Idaho Springs, Colorado, back in 1991.
Are mountain lions dangerous?
Don’t let a fear of mountain lions keep you out of the back country. It’s an extremely rare occurrence when a mountain lion bothers a human being. Most of the time, they want nothing more than to avoid you. However, having said that, I will also say that these are tough, dangerous predators that do, on very rare occasions, harm humans. There have been 27 fatal mountain lion attacks over the last 100 years. On the other hand, use the fact that lightning kills around 43 people in the U.S every year for some perspective.
Here’s what recently happened to a bowhunter in Utah. Finally, look here for tips on what to do in the unlikely event that a mountain lion is bothering you.
Canada lynx in Colorado (Lynx canadensis)
The Canada Lynx is sometimes also known as the Canadian Lynx. They are medium-sized wild cats that live in the boreal forest in the high country of Canada and the northern United States. They are 1 of 2 North American members of the “Lynx” genus. The other one is the bobcat.
Colorado once again has a small population of Canada lynx. These wild felines are native to Colorado’s high elevation forests. However, after the state was settled by European Americans, the value of lynx fur on international markets proved to be their undoing. Canada lynx were trapped into expatriation in Colorado by the early 20th century.
In 1999, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released 41 Canada lynx from Canada and Alaska into the San Juan Mountains. Subsequently, they released over 200 Canada lynx into that area in southwestern Colorado.
Today, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, there are between 150 and 250 Canada lynx living within the state.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service listed Canada lynx in the contiguous United States as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the year 2,000.
Canadian Lynx Characteristics
What does a Canadian lynx look like? Canadian Lynx closely resemble their close relative, the bobcat but with some differences. First of all, they are slightly larger than bobcats. They are up to 35 1/2 inches (90 cm) long and 26 inches (65 cm) tall. Additionally, they weigh up to 37 and a half pounds (17 kg). While the tail of a bobcat is short or “bobbed” a lynx’s tail is shorter still.
Canadian Lynx have triangular pointed ears with black backs and long tufts of black hair on the tips. The hair tufts are much longer than a bobcat’s. They also have drooping flared facial ruff of white hair on the sides of their face beneath their chin.
Their eyes are green with round black pupils.
Lynx have long legs in proportion to their bodies, with their hind legs being slightly longer than their front ones. This gives their body a peculiar, downhill-sloped appearance.
Canadian Lynx have almost comical-looking oversized fur-covered paws. They put their larger feet to good use. Their large paws function like snowshoes, allowing them to travel and hunt on top of the snow. Canadian lynx feet can keep almost twice as much weight from sinking into the snow as those of a bobcat. This is why they range over the deep snow country of northern Canada while bobcats do not.
Canada Lynx have long thick grey fur in the winter. By summertime, they have shed their grey fur and have a thinner, shorter reddish tan hair coat instead. Their color is more uniform than that of bobcats. While bobcats have black spots and mottled coloration over their entire body, Lynx are solid tan except for some mottled darker brown spots on their legs.
What do Canada Lynx eat?
Mice squirrels, ptarmigan, grouse, ducks, deer, Dall sheep, and caribou make up a minor portion of a Canadian lynx’s diet in regions where these prey animals are available. However, over most of their range, their preferred food is Snowshoe hares.
Lynx and snowshoe hare
The Canada lynx is very dependent on snowshoe hares as a food source. In some areas, hares comprise 75 percent of their total diet. In fact, their population density is directly correlated with the snowshoe hare population.
Canadian and Alaskan Canadian Lynx and snowshoe hares go through what is known as the Lynx-Snowshoe Hare Cycle. When food sources are abundant for hares, their population increases very rapidly since they can have several litters per year. When hare populations are at their peak, there can be as many as 1500 animals per square kilometer” 3913 per square mile”. At this time, the population of Lynx and other predators are also at their peaks.
In Colorado, Canada lynx are chiefly dependent on snowshoe hares as prey animals. However, they also feed on deer, squirrels, various other small mammals, birds, and carrion.
Colorado’s bobcats (Lynx rufus)
The Bobcat, which is also known as the red lynx, is another North American wild cat. Biologists believe that both the bobcat and the Canada lynx are descendants of Eurasian lynx whose ancestors crossed into North America via the Bearing Sea land bridge.
Bobcat range begins in southern Canada, about where the range of the Canadian lynx begins to dwindle out and extends south into central Mexico.
Around 12,000 bobcats live in Colorado. One way that biologists come up with population estimates of bobcats and cougars is by luring the wild felines into so called hair traps either with predator calls or food bait. When the cat goes inside the trap, a small amount of its hair gets snagged and left behind.
Researchers extrapolate the cat’s DNA from its hair and are able to keep a database of the animals in any given area. From there, they’re able to estimate how large a territory each animal uses and, ergo, the population density for larger areas within the state, such as the front range or the western slope in Colorado.
What do bobcats look like?
A bobcat is much smaller than a mountain lion and slightly smaller than a Canada lynx. In fact, smaller female bobcats are not much bigger than large domestic cats.
A bobcat is 2 to 3 feet long and weighs about 15 to 35 pounds. A Female bobcat is quite a bit smaller than a male.
These animals have a “bobbed,” short tail with a black tip. Their fur is usually gray to brown, with mottled dark spots that range from black to dark brown on their bodies. They also have black stripes on their inner forelegs and tail.
From a side view, you will notice that a bobcat is slightly higher at the rump than at the shoulders. Bobcats and lynx have long hind legs in proportion to their forelegs.
Bobcats have black-tufted ears. In other words, they have tufts of hair that poke up above their ears that are black at the tips. The backs of their ears, below the black tips, are white. In the center of the white of each ear, they have a single black spot. This gives the impression of a false eye on the back of each ear.
They also have a whiskered face that seems broader due to their long ruffled facial hair and whiskers. Their eyes are yellow with round black pupils.
What do bobcats eat?
Despite their comparatively small size, bobcats are aggressive, tough predators. At times, particularly during the winter, they prey on animals that are much larger than they are, such as deer. However, their regular diets mainly consist of small mammals, reptiles, birds, and carrion. When they take up residence close to a residential area, their menu might occasionally also include small domestic dogs or cats.
Interestingly, they even prey on rattlesnakes even though they are not immune to rattlesnake venom. They accomplish this by using their quickness to pin the snake’s head down with a paw, after which they dispatch the snake with a quick bite to its spine behind the head.
Bobcat behavior
Like mountain lions, bobcats live a solitary existence most of the time. The only time that you’d be likely to see two adult bobcats together is during the mating season. An exception to this generality is for bobcats in urban areas. Urban bobcats tend to be much more tolerant of each other’s presence.
Female bobcats breed once a year. If they successfully breed, an average litter size is 3 kittens. After breeding, the male’s role is complete. He goes off to search for more females to mate with. Only the female bobcat cares for the kittens and teaches them how to survive. When they are about a year old, the young bobcats are on their own.
Bobcats are fierce. If you get one cornered, you’ve got a semi-dangerous animal on your hands. It will hiss, growl and spit like one of the nastiest house cats you’ve ever run into. They mean it too. They have to be tough and mean to survive.
There have been times that an urban bobcat will get itself cornered in someone’s house or outbuilding. In a situation like this, keep a safe distance, open the doors and give the animal the space and opportunity to leave on its own accord. If this fails to do the trick, you’ll have to call someone from the CPW to move it for you.
Final Thoughts
Stop wasting time. Make some time to get out into the backcountry in the beautiful state of Colorado. If you’re fortunate enough to interact with one of its wild cats, you’ll be that much richer for the experience.
