Cougar Interview Excerpt with Christina Bolgiano

The follow partial dialog is lifted from a "Guest Chat" session conducted in PATC's Chat Room on March 17th, 1999. Christina author of "Mountain Lion; An Unnatural History of Pumas and People". Check PATC's Trails Forum for future scheduled events.

ahiltz: Who would release them? After all,
- these aren't "house pets" we're talking about
- here....
ahiltz: As in domesticated?
[Bolgiano] There's a big black market in cougars
- as pets. Drug dealers expeically like them.
- But they don't make good pets, and when they
- get big they are hard to handle.
ahiltz: Do you think there's a "conspiracy" to
- "reintroduce" cougars through "unofficial"
- releases?
[Bolgiano] I've heard various rumors about
- wildlife officials quietly releasing
- some--can't believe this. Also have heard that
- environmentalists might do it, but just don't
- know.
ahiltz: How often do cougars move to "new"
- ranges?
[Bolgiano] When male cougars reach about 2
- years, they light out for their own
- territorities. Females usually stay close to
- mother, sometimes right next door.
ahiltz: Do you expect the population, if it
- exists in our area, to grow in coming years -
- even with so much development pressure in the
- region?
[Bolgiano] It depends totally on human
- tolerance. Prey and cover are abuindant--the
- habitat is very good. But only if people are
- willing to leave them be.
ahiltz: Is there a new "management philosophy"
- the NPS should adopt if they're confirmed in
- Shenandoah?
[Bolgiano] Yes, as regards education of hikers
- and other visitors. Much needs to be
- taught--people in the east have lost all
- knowledge of cougars.
ahiltz: What would you teach them?
[Bolgiano] The kinds of things in the
- brochure--don't run, make yourself big, keep
- children close by. Children are the most
- vulnerable, and sure pose a big public
- relations problem for cougars.
ahiltz: What prompted you to write a book about
- cougars?
[Bolgiano] Some feeling of affinity on several
- levels.
ahiltz: You're a hunter? ;-)
[Bolgiano] A hunter of meaning.
ahiltz: :-)
[Bolgiano] Cougars combine two powerful forces:
- the grace and agility of the feminine, and the
- power and savagery of the masculine.
[johninmd] How is a cougar different from a
- bobcat?
[Bolgiano] Bobcat: small, short tail. Cougar:
- big, long tail.
ahiltz: When were the first "new" sightings
- reported, and have they been increasing?
[Bolgiano] Sightings have never ceased from the
- time the last cougars were shot at the end of
- the 1800s. They began to increase rapidly in
- the 1970s.
ahiltz: Why do you think that's the case?
[Bolgiano] Several possibilities. Population
- increased due to natural generation; or due to
- that plus some releases and escapes. I think
- it's probably both.
ahiltz: Do cougars compete with bears, or does
- their "meat only" diet keep things in balance?
- Do bears and cougars "co-habitate" well?
[Bolgiano] Yes, they do compete. There's some
- fascinating studies going on out west in the
- few areas where cougars, wolves, black bears
- and grizzlies all coexist. What happens a lot
- is that cougars bring down a deer or elk but
- get run off it by wolves, bears or coyotes. So
- the cougar is a sort of provider for everyone.
ahiltz: Have any been reported at farms
- "raiding the chicken coop"?
[Bolgiano] Very occasionally. Sheep are the
- worst. Cougars can be a real problem for the
- occasional sheep farmer that gets a cougar who
- likes to take sheep--can lose 40 to 50 in a
- night.
ahiltz: Have sightings been more frequent in
- the deep woods of the Appalachians, or the
- "easy pickings" of the Blue Ridge?
[Bolgiano] Sightings definitely tend to cluster
- over time in the most remote areas.
ahiltz: More in Virginia than West Virginia?
[Bolgiano] No, i suspect WV may have as many or
- more than VA. But it's awfully hard to be
- precise about sightings, because so many are
- bogus, and you really have to pick through each
- one to try to determine credibility.
ahiltz: How long do young stay with the
- parents?
[Bolgiano] Up to about 2 years.
ahiltz: At what age are they ready to "hunt on
- their own"?
[Bolgiano] It's a long process of training by
- the mother. When they leave at age 2, they are
- often not very good at hunting, and young
- cougars definitely tend toward small animals
- like raccoons.
[Bolgiano] Even porcupines.
[Bolgiano] And yet, cougars without mother's
- training have been known to hunt. So the
- instinct is strong.
ahiltz: What is the greatest "sense" that
- cougars have. The bear's sense of smell is
- legendary.
[Bolgiano] Sight is strong; smell not as strong
- as canines. Also there is something called
- flehman, a sensory organ in the upper part of
- the mouth. Used to sense chemical odors, as in
- females in estrus. To use it, cougars make a
- grimace.
ahiltz: Do cougars ever hunt in "packs", or are
- they typically solitary hunters?
[Bolgiano] Very solitary. However, female
- cougars have been known to get together,
- apparently for purely social reasons.
ahiltz: Do they hunt primarily during the day,
- or night (like housecats)?
[Bolgiano] Night, but this may be an artifact of
- human presence. Where humans are rare, cougars
- are known to hunt during the day.
ahiltz: How often do they typically try and
- hunt for food? Every couple of days, or purely
- opportunistic?
[Bolgiano] Cougars eat a deer about every seven
- days. But if they come across one earlier...
ahiltz: Do they "den" during the day, or have
- "day beds" like Grizzly?
[Bolgiano] Yes, day beds. In Florida, a cougar day
- bed in saw palmetto was measured at about 10
- degrees cooler than the ambient temp. Of
- course, the reseachers had to kick the animal
- out of his bed to measure the temp.
ahiltz: Do cougars hate water like housecats?
[Bolgiano] Seems to vary. Cougars don't much
- like to swim in Florida, but will do it. I saw a
- film of a captive cougar at Grandfather Mtn. in
- NC fishing--successfully.
ahiltz: Do cougars "fight" for mates like other
- species, or is mating a far more benign affair?
[Bolgiano] Cougars engage in deadly fights
- between males. Also adult males will kill
- kittens unless the female is there and is one
- of his harem.
ahiltz: Do they mate for life?
[Bolgiano] Yes and no. One male cougar's
- territory will cover several females. He will
- mate with those same females as long as they
- are there.
ahiltz: Do you feel cougars should be moved to
- areas where they might be "safer", if they're
- discovered in populous areas?
[Bolgiano] Boy, that's tough. Wherever you move
- a cougar, there's likely to already be a
- cougar in possession of the territory. So they
- may fight, which would be disadvantageous to
- both. One or the other will have to move on.
- Moving thru unknown territory is highly
- dangerous for cougars.
ahiltz: Why would the male kill his own
- offspring?
[Bolgiano] They won't kill their own
- offspring--if they recognize the mother. But
- if they don't, or if the kittens are
- unattended, they will kill them. It's a
- mechanism that biologists called
- "self-regulating" and works to keep the
- populations low.
ahiltz: How long do males stick around after
- offspring are born?
[Bolgiano] Not at all--they take off after
- mating.