Trivia question for Aug-05-2011

Olivia loves cats big and small.  Recently while teaching their Plastic Awareness Week program in FL they had an opportunity to get up close to several big cats which is probably what sparked her interest in writing todays trivia.  These are solitary hunters which patrol large territories in parts of its range.

A capable stalk-and-ambush predator, these cats can pursue a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. It will also hunt species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but it can also live in open areas. They are territorial and persists at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey. While it is a large predator, it is not always the dominant species in its range, as when it competes for prey with other predators such as the jaguar, grey wolf, American Black Bear, and the grizzly bear. It is a reclusive cat and usually avoids people. Attacks on humans remain fairly rare, despite a recent increase in frequency.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what kind of cat this is and tell us how many calories a nursing female requires each day?  Also, these guys patrol their territory by twilight which has earned them a popular nickname.  Tell us what that name is?

Good luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Tami Kannenberg from Bellingham, Washington for being the first with all the correct answers. The awesome looking cat we featured is the Puma. Puma is a genus in Felidae that contains the Cougar (also known as the Puma, among other names as the Cougar or Mountain Lion or perhaps the Florida Panther, the endangered subspecies) and the Jaguarundi, and may also include several poorly known Old World fossil representatives.

A female with cubs to nurse requires about 28,000 calories per day.  Among the many nicknames these guys have, the one that is most prevalent seems to be ‘ghost cat’ because of its twilight hunting habits.  Here is more on these magnificent looking cats: Puma

Thanks for playing along 😉