Made with Xara Web Designer If you are interested in acquiring this painting or would like further information please contact me The graceful cougar or mountain lion is the grand champion jumper of all cats. Its exceptionally powerful hind legs can propel it thirty feet forward from a stand still and up to eighteen feet straight up! This jumping agility is needed for hunting nimble animals along mountain cliffs. It is a good swimmer but prefers not to enter the water if possible. Sight is its most acute sense with a good sense of hearing, but is thought to have a poorly developed sense of smell. Historically, mountain lions had the most extensive distribution of all American terrestrial mammals. They ranged from coast to coast in North America, and from southern Argentina and Chile and Patagonia to southeastern Alaska. The cougar is the largest cat in the genus "felis" and is comparable in size as the leopard. It is said that the Cougar is the only one of the big cats that purr like a domestic cat.  Winter Pursuit Link to Us Privacy Photo Gallery Guestbook 16"x24” -  40x61cm Acrylic on Canvas All content and artwork copyright to Stephen Gayford and may not be reproduced without permission © 2007 - 2011