Hunting deer is difficult in many regards, but this California cat makes it look easy. Its stealthy approach and precise pounce were no match for its unsuspecting prey. 

Mountain lions can jump 15 feet high and 40 feet in distance, and sprint up to 50 miles per hour. Their hind legs are the largest (proportionately) in the cat family and their paws are huge. These characteristics give them killer jumping and sprinting abilities. Mountain lions are strict carnivores and rarely consume vegetation. Although they typically eat deer, a mountain lion will also prey on moose, bighorn sheep or even smaller animals.

Mountain lions are also known as the cougar, puma, panther, “painter,” mountain cat or catamount. These animals have more nicknames than just about any other mammal. The mountain lion’s range spreads all across the Americas, from the Canadian Yukon to The Strait of Magellan, the largest range of any living mammal in the Americas. Although sightings are rare in the Southeast and Southwest, with many state agencies chalking up sightings to released cats, they are known to occur. More sightings have been made in the Midwest in recent years, too, with many believing these big animals are expanding their range slowly but surely. They were extirpated in many Southeast states decades ago before state wildlife agencies prohibited hunting them or added them to protective non-game species lists.