Editing Cougar (section)

===Hunting and diet===
[[File:P-35 and the Bears (25382928560).jpg|thumb|right|Camera trap image of cougar in the [[Santa Susana Mountains]] northwest of Los Angeles]]
[[File:P-35 and the Bears (25657563476).jpg|thumb|Cougar with deer kill]]

The cougar is a [[Generalist and specialist species|generalist]] [[hypercarnivore]]. It prefers large mammals such as [[mule deer]], [[white-tailed deer]], [[elk]], [[moose]], [[mountain goat]] and [[bighorn sheep]]. It opportunistically takes smaller prey such as [[rodent]]s, [[lagomorph]]s, smaller carnivores, birds, and even domestic animals, including pets.<ref name="Naughton" /> The mean weight of cougar vertebrate prey increases with its body weight and is lower in areas closer to the [[equator]]. A survey of North America research found 68% of prey items were ungulates, especially deer. Only the Florida panther showed variation, often preferring feral [[Hog (swine)|hog]]s and [[armadillo]]s.<ref name="diet" /> Cougars have been known to prey on introduced [[gemsbok]] populations in [[New Mexico]]. One individual cougar was recorded as hunting 29 gemsbok, which made up 58% of its recorded kills. Most gemsbok kills were neonates, but some adults were also known to have been taken.<ref name="TWS">{{cite web |last1=Kobilinsky |first1=D. |date=2023 |title=Rising oryx numbers may distress New Mexico ecosystem |url=https://wildlife.org/rising-oryx-numbers-may-distress-new-mexico-ecosystem/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |work=The Wildlife Society |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311220740/https://wildlife.org/rising-oryx-numbers-may-distress-new-mexico-ecosystem/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Elsewhere in the southwestern United States, they have been recorded to also prey on [[feral horse]]s in the [[Great Basin]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wildlife.org/jwm-cougars-prey-on-feral-horses-in-the-great-basin |title=JWM: Cougars prey on feral horses in the Great Basin |date=2021|access-date=May 10, 2023|archive-date=May 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510190218/https://wildlife.org/jwm-cougars-prey-on-feral-horses-in-the-great-basin/|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as [[feral donkey]]s in the [[Sonoran Desert|Sonoran]] and [[Mojave Desert]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wildlife.org/do-cougars-affect-ecosystems-by-preying-on-feral-donkeys/ |title=Do cougars affect ecosystems by preying on feral donkeys? |date=May 10, 2023|access-date=May 10, 2023|archive-date=May 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510184027/https://wildlife.org/do-cougars-affect-ecosystems-by-preying-on-feral-donkeys/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Investigations at [[Yellowstone National Park]] showed that elk and mule deer were the cougar's primary prey; the prey base is shared with the park's [[Wolf|wolves]], with which the cougar competes for resources.<ref name="Yellowstone">{{cite web |title=Wildlife: Wolves |publisher=[[Yellowstone National Park]] |url=http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |access-date=April 8, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420174741/http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |archive-date=April 20, 2007}}<br />* {{cite web |author1=Akenson, H. |author2=Akenson, J. |author3=Quigley, H. |title=Winter predation and interactions of Wolves and Cougars on Panther Creek in Central Idaho |url=http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420174741/http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |archive-date=April 20, 2007}}<br />* {{cite web |author1=Oakleaf, John K. |author2=Mack, C. |author3=Murray, D. L. |title=Winter predation and interactions of Cougars and Wolves in the Central Idaho Wilderness |url=http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420174741/http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves.htm |archive-date=April 20, 2007}}</ref> A study on winter kills from November to April in [[Alberta]] showed that ungulates accounted for greater than 99% of the cougar diet. Learned, individual prey recognition was observed, as some cougars rarely killed bighorn sheep, while others relied heavily on the species.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ross |first=R. |author2=Jalkotzy, M. G. |author3=Festa-Bianchet, M. |year=1993 |title=Cougar predation on bighorn sheep in southwestern Alberta during winter |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=75 |issue=5 |pages=771–775 |doi=10.1139/z97-098 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

In the Central and South American cougar range area, the ratio of deer in the diet declines. Small to mid-sized mammals, including large rodents such as the [[capybara]], are preferred. Ungulates accounted for only 35% of prey items in one survey, about half that of North America. Competition with the larger jaguar in South America has been suggested for the decline in the size of prey items.<ref name="diet" /> In Central or North America, the cougar and jaguar share the same prey, depending on its abundance.<ref name="GGLG2017">{{cite journal |last1=Gutiérrez-González |first1=C. E. |last2=López-González |first2=C. A. |title=Jaguar interactions with pumas and prey at the northern edge of jaguars' range |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |pages=e2886 |date=2017 |doi=10.7717/peerj.2886 |pmid=28133569 |pmc=5248577 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other listed prey species of the cougar include [[Mouse|mice]], [[porcupine]]s, [[American beaver]]s, [[raccoon]]s, [[hare]]s, [[guanaco]]es, [[Peccary|peccaries]], [[vicuña]]s, [[Rhea (bird)|rhea]]s and [[wild turkey]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Whitaker, J. O. |year=1980 |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals |location=New York |publisher=Chanticleer Press |chapter=|chapter-url= |isbn=0-394-50762-2}}</ref> Birds and small reptiles are sometimes preyed upon in the south, but this is rarely recorded in North America.<ref name="diet" /> [[Magellanic penguin]]s (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') constitute the majority of prey items in cougar diet in [[Patagonia]]'s [[Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park]] and [[Monte León National Park]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Martínez, J.I.Z. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Travaini, A. |author3=Zapata, S. |author4=Procopio, D. |author5=Santillán, M.Á. |year=2012 |title=The ecological role of native and introduced species in the diet of the puma ''Puma concolor'' in southern Patagonia |journal=Oryx |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=106–111 |doi=10.1017/S0030605310001821 |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/81623 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Although capable of sprinting, the cougar is typically an [[ambush predator]]. It stalks through brush and trees, across ledges, or other covered spots, before delivering a powerful leap onto the back of its prey and a suffocating neck bite. The cougar can break the neck of some of its smaller prey with a strong bite and momentum bearing the animal to the ground.<ref name="WhosWho" /> Kills are generally estimated around one large ungulate every two weeks. The period shrinks for females raising young, and may be as short as one kill every three days when cubs are nearly mature around 15 months.<ref name="CAP" /> The cat drags a kill to a preferred spot, covers it with brush, and returns to feed over a period of days. The cougar is generally reported to not be a [[scavenger]], but deer carcasses left exposed for study were scavenged by cougars in California, suggesting more opportunistic behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bauer |first=J. W. |author2=Logan, K. A. |author3=Sweanor, L. L. |author4=Boyce, W. M. |date=2005 |title=Scavenging behavior in Puma |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=466–471 |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1894/0038-4909(2005)050[0466:SBIP]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=85632179}}</ref>