Meet Luna the Puma
Β©Audubon Canyon Ranch 2020
Written by Jacqueline Levy and Liz Martins
Illustrated by Liz Martins
Photographs by Quinton Martins
(Glossary on slide 16)
CHAPTER ONE
Oh, it feels good to stretch. I just woke up. It is a clear night and the moon is full. I can smell grass, oak trees and bay leaves. There is also a faint smell of deer. Deer is my favorite food. I am very hungry. Yesterday at dusk I was creeping up on a raccoon. Then a raven spotted me, cawed and dove down over my head. That warned the raccoon, and all the other animals, that I was there. The raccoon quickly scurried up a tree into a hollow. So, I went hungry last night. I donβt have to eat every night, but I am hungry. I hope my luck will change tonight.
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It is your turn. Go outside and smell the air.
What did you smell when you were outside?
I should probably introduce myself. My name is Luna. I am a female Puma. I live in an area humans call Sonoma County, California. Some people call my species cougars, panthers, or mountain lions.
Mountain lions, like myself, can live in many different habitats* including: evergreen forests, chaparral, oak woodlands and deserts. I just need cover to hide in. There are pumas living as far north as the Yukon in Canada and as far south as Patagonia in South America.
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It is a warm summer night and the crickets are
chirping. I hear the breeze moving the leaves
of the trees overhead. I am good at walking
quietly. When I am creeping up on something
I test the ground with my front foot then place
my back foot on the same spot where my front
foot was. Even when Iβm not hunting I always
walk with care, aware.
If the ground is soft I might leave tracks behind.
Have you ever seen a puma track? My tracks
are much bigger than a house cat, though the
shape is very similar. Unlike dogs, wolves and
foxes you wonβt see claw markings in my tracks,
because I pull my claws in when I walk, like
other cats.
Why do you think cats have retractable claws?
Try walking silently as a puma. Next time you go for a nature walk practice walking silently and carefully, pretend you are a puma.
Compare the front tracks to the hind tracks of each animal. Then compare the different animal tracks to each other. What difference do you notice about these tracks?
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Front
Front
Hind
Hind
Mountain lion tracks
Coyote tracks
Raccoon tracks
CHAPTER TWO
I am at the eastern edge of my territory. I look carefully with my eyes that can see in the darkness, looking for signs of other pumas.
I have not been here for days and I want to refresh my markings. We have many ways to mark our territory. Every scat tells me something. I see a scrape on the ground and sniff to explore it. Ah, it is the male who shares my territory. Itβs not fresh. Itβs been a while since he passed by. I scrape nearby, my back feet scratching up the earth, leaving the scent stored between my toes. Then I spray, peeing my message on the mound. I mark my territory to let other female pumas know this is my hunting grounds and to stay away.
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I come to a high fence. It surrounds a vineyard and is there to keep deer away from the vines. I donβt feel like going the long way around. I crouch, then spring. I stretch out my long back legs keeping my sturdy tail straight, so it balances me like a rudder as I jump. I land easily on the other side, my front paws and strong front legs acting like shock absorbers. I can jump much higher than this fence - 15 feet high if I want to!
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CHAPTER THREE
I walk on through the still night. I freeze. Not far off the trail I can see a deer sleeping. I move ever so slowly closer. Close enough now, 15 feet,that is an easy leap for me. At a run I can jump up to 40 feet. Pounce. I have it. I use my powerful jaws to kill the deer.
I donβt want other animals to be attracted by the smell of the stinky intestines. There is soft ground nearby where I can bury them. I use my paws to move the earth and leaves. Then I drag the intestines of the deer over to my hole and cover them with earth again.
I use my tiny, flat front teeth to scrape the fur away from the skin of the deer before eating the meat. There is more food here than I need for today, so I will cache the rest, covering it with leaves and soil. I will return tomorrow to eat more. This deer should last me three more nights if coyotes donβt find it and eat it.
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CHAPTER FOUR
The last time I gave birth to kittens was eighteen months ago. I had three kittens, two females and a male. They had spots on their fur, unlike me. When they were first born I fed them milk.
I had a nice place for my kittens to hide when I went out to hunt. Every time I had to go hunting or walking my territory I had to leave them all alone and they were completely helpless. Any kind of predator would eat my kittens if they saw them β birds of prey, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, or snakes.
Once they were about two months old my cubs ventured out of the den and started eating meat. After that they followed me everywhere except when I was hunting. Then theyβd wait for me and Iβd come back to show them to the food.
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Why do you think the kittens have spots?
My cubs used to play together. They would sneak up behind fallen logs and pounce on each other and tumble. While I was trying to get a nap they sometimes crept up and tried to catch my tail. A snarl from me would stop that trick, but playing is a good way for them to learn the skills needed to survive.
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What skills do you think the kittens are learning by the game they play?
CHAPTER FIVE
By the time my son was 5 months old he was the only kitten left. He would watch me hunt. Over the next few months he learned to hunt on his own. He started with small things like mice and rabbits. He was so proud the first time he caught a deer!
We spent many months together as I taught him all I know. He finally left me when he was 18 months old to make his way on his own. I was tired of sharing my food with him and it feels good to be alone again.
It is not easy for young males and he will travel many miles. There are other mountain lions with territories they donβt want to share, so he is on the move, sneaking around hoping not to bump into another male. He will most likely only be strong enough to take a territory of his own when he is 4 or 5 years old. I will probably never see him again.
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This is a map of mountain lion territories.
The white outline is the maleβs territory.
The colored outlines are the females.
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How many females live inside the maleβs territory?
CHAPTER SIX
The sun rises and the day begins to warm. People are moving about. I have heard that many people are afraid of me. I wish they knew that Iβm not interested in catching them. I avoid humans. I watch them sometimes as they pass by making so much noise itβs easy to slip away and hide before they see me. Time to find a place to sleep for the day.
There are some thick bushes in this drainage, good cover and lovely shade. I will just push in here where I will be well hidden and scrape the ground a little to make it comfortable. In a few months I hope to have new kittens. This might be a good den site. Iβll remember it.
Can you spot the mountain lion in the picture on the bottom right?
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Look at the picture on the top right. Which places in the picture do you think would be the best places for her to sleep? Why?
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GLOSSARY
Cache β when an animal covers prey to hide it under leaves and dirt
Chaparral β shrubland found in California
Habitats β places where communities of plants and animals live together
Intestines β the long tube where food passes through and is digested after it has been in the stomach
Rudder β a vertical blade that stabilizes and balances a boat and can be used to steer it when moved
Scat β Scientific term for animal poop
Scrape β a hollow in the ground with a mound of dirt behind it made by a mountain lion scraping the soil with its paws
Territories β areas of land ruled by an individual animal and defended against others
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