Cougar Identification

Appearance

The cougar is the second largest member of the cat family in the western hemisphere (the jaguar is the largest) and the largest of the North American wild cats. On average, adult male cougars stand about 30 inches at the shoulders, are about 7 to 8 feet long from nose to the tip of their tail (the tail is about 1/3 of that length), and weigh about 120 to 160 pounds. Large males can reach up to 180 pounds but that is very uncommon. Adult female cougars are usually about 25% smaller than male cougars (about 85 to 110 pounds). Cougars can be identified by two primary characteristics:

• the pelage or coat of adult cougars is uniformly colored tawny, grey-brown or red-brown.
• cougars have a very thick and long black-tipped tail which measures about half of their body length. The tail serves to counter-balance the cougar’s movements as they pursue prey and travel across the landscape.

Also, cougars have a characteristic white “moustache.”

Number of sets of tracks

Identifying cougar gender by tracks

• If several sets of cougar tracks appear together it usually means a female is travelling with her young. Note that the tracks of an immature male may be as large as their mother’s.

Track Width

Males

• The tracks of adult male cougars average about 4 inches wide and up to 5 inches wide.
• The heel pad of an adult male is usually > 2 inches wide.

Females

• The tracks of adult female cougars are < 3½ inches.
• The heel pad of an adult female cougar is usually < 2 inches wide.

Stride Length (when observed in snow)

Females

• The stride length of adult female cougars is usually < 40 inches.

Males

• The stride length of adult male cougars is usually greater than 40 inches.

Note: When observing tracks it is important to recognize that several factors may lead to incorrect conclusions about the gender of the animal making the track.

• Characteristics of the terrain – wet, soft, hard, etc.
• The pace of the cougar
• Tracks may be of a sub-adult

Identifying Cougar Gender When it is in a Tree

Male adult and sub-adult cougars can be identified by a conspicuous spot of black hair roughly 1 inch in diameter that surrounds the opening to the penis sheath behind the rear legs and about 4 to 5 inches below the anus. The scrotum, covered with light brown, white and silver hair, lies between the black spot and the anus. The black spot and scrotum distinguish males from females.

Female adult and sub-adult cougars can be identified by the lack of a black spot or scrotum behind the rear legs and below the base of the tail. Females will only have white hair in this area. Below the base of the tail is the anus, and below the anus lies the vulva. However, the anus and the vulva will usually be hidden by the base of the tail. Also, the teats of female adults and sub-adults are often inconspicuous and are therefore not useful for identifying the gender of a cougar. Hunter Education – Colorado Division of Wildlife

Cougar Signs

Scats

Cougar scat is dense and segmented, with rounded ends that may or not have small “tails”. Each segment is roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cougar scat is roughly the size of those of a large dog, which distinguishes it from the similar but smaller scat of bobcats and lynx. Hair, bones and teeth commonly appear in cougar scat. Vegetation is usually not present in cougar scat but some may contain grass. Cougars leave scat near scrapes, along trails, in arroyos, under overhangs, in caves, and near kills. It is important to note that it may be difficult to tell the difference between the scat of a cougar and that of a large coyote or dog. Also, smaller cougars may deposit scats similar in size to those left by bobcats. For these reasons it may be necessary to perform DNA analysis to determine positively whether a scat is that of a cougar or another animal.

Scrapes

Male cougars frequently make scrapes (also called scratches) as markers for other cougars and leave them in conspicuous places along trails, at junctions in canyons, in caves, and along ridge lines. The male cougars make scrapes by using their hind feet to push up a mound of pine needles, leaves, dirt and other debris. Occasionally cougars will urinate or defecate on the scrape. Female cougars rarely make scrapes. Bobcats make similar, albeit smaller, scrapes.

Cache

After killing large prey, cougars will first eat the organs and part of the meat, and then drag the prey a distance. They will then cover the remainder with leaves, pine needles and other debris to hide it from other animals.  The cougars may spend three to five days feeding on the prey so may not be far from the kill site.

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