How fast can mountain lions run

Found in deserts, humid coast forests, arid hillsides, scrub and oak woodlands, lions can live from sea level to snow-covered mountain peaks. A ten year lifespan is considered old age for a mountain lion in the wild. Lions in captivity have been known to live twice that long. In areas where mountain lions are hunted for sport, only a small percentage make it past five years old.

Mountain lions are solitary unless mating or parenting and maintain territories that average square miles in size. Lions mark their territories by clawing trees and urinating on scratch piles of dry leaves, grass or pine needles. They will fight other lions, even to the death, to protect their territory. A female with kittens will move to a new den site within her territory every few weeks to protect her kittens from predators and male lions.

Opportunistic hunters, mountain lions typically hunt alone from dusk to dawn, taking their prey primarily deer from behind. On average, a lion will kill a deer about once a week. They also dine on coyotes, raccoons, rodents, elk, feral hogs, and even porcupines. They may drag the meal to another area and cover it with dry leaves, grass or pine needles to protect the food from other animals and to reduce spoilage.

A mountain lion may return to feed at the site over a period of several days. To deer, yes! To people, not so much. Human encounters with mountain lions are rare and the risk of an attack is infinitely small. You are more likely to drown in your bathtub, be killed by a pet dog, or hit by lightning.

If lions had any natural urge to hunt people, there would be attacks every single day. Instead, they avoid us. But if you live, work, or play in cat country, be alert!

Avoid walking alone between dusk and dawn when lions are most active. Keep your children and pets close to you. A cougar with a running start can fly 45 feet in a single leap. Males vs. Males almost always travel alone; females sometimes travel with cubs. Hunting: They are most active at night, but sometimes will hunt or travel in daylight.

Aside from humans, the mountain lion has the widest geographic range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Common Name: Cougar Mountain Lion. Scientific Name: Puma concolor. Type: Mammals. Diet: Carnivore. Size: Head and body: 3. Weight: pounds. Explore more! On the other hand, people who froze were the least likely to escape injury when a mountain lion attacked. Only 26 percent of them escaped. They also had the greatest frequency of severe injuries: 43 percent of those who stood still in the face of a lion were badly injured compared with 17 percent of those who fled, according to the study.

Thus, running might be the smartest move, Coss concludes, particularly if you are in a situation that allows you to sprint in a sure-footed fashion. Running on uneven ground such as rocky terrain or snow could make it seem like you're limping, and mountain lions might consider you more vulnerable, Coss says.

Many wildlife organizations suggest standing one's ground defensively and even attempting to intimidate a mountain lion by shouting or throwing rocks.

But Coss says that might not be as effective for pumas as for other wild animals, such as African lions and leopards. The reason, he says: those creatures co-evolved with humans over the past million years, whereas mountain lions have been exposed to humans for just thousands of years—too short a span for natural selection to enhance puma caution.

I don't think I would run.