Cougar
A long stare. That powerful, tawny body. Cougars are a top feline predator in the Pacific Northwest, but you’ll rarely see them in the wild. Come meet ours, close-up.
![cougar](https://www.nwtrek.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50-superstition-cougar.jpg)
Our cougar Carly was found orphaned in the wild as a cub in 2010. She was brought by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to find a home at Northwest Trek. She’s estimated to have been born in late 2009. And her name? Well, she was found near the town of Carlton, WA.
![Carly cougar Training](https://www.nwtrek.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Carly-cougar-Training.jpg)
Carly prefers to work with people she trusts, and that can take a while! Once she trusts someone, though, she works well at training with them. Keeper Haley has even worked with her on voluntary blood draws.
Long and strong
with many names.
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Also called a puma, mountain lion or panther, cougars can be 7-9 feet long, the second-largest wildcat in North America. |
Weighing up to 200 pounds, they hunt deer, elk, small mammals, birds and reptiles. |
Silently stalking
to hunt prey.
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Cougars are usually solitary, stalking and sometimes ambushing their prey. |
Their territory can stretch up to 350 miles or more, depending on availability of prey. |
Leaping, climbing
and vocalizing.
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Cougars are powerful runners, leapers and climbers, adapted to habitat from forest to desert, from Chile to Canada. |
They are very vocal, producing a variety of screams, growls, mews, hisses and even a purr like a housecat – but louder. |