Big Cats - Mountain Lion (Puma concolor)

I'm not satisfied with this sketch, so it's likely I'll do another one. There's too much contrast between the black of the irises and the rest of the face. And the face itself is too angular.

The mountain lion is known by many names, some common, "puma", "panther", "cougar"; and some more colorful names, "catamount", "painter" (because of the black tip on its tail) and "mountain screamer". It is native to the Americas and can be found all the way from the northwest regions of Canada to the southernmost tip of South America.

It is a very large cat, growing to be about the size of an adult human. Most adult males grow to be between 115 and 160 pounds, with a length of 5 to 9 feet from nose to tail tip. In rare instances though, these cats have been found to be over 250 lbs.

The mountain lion's feet have evolved to be very effective at capturing prey, as they are over-sized, with extremely sharp claws. The mountain lion is an "ambush predator", meaning that they capture their prey by stealth rather than by chase. They are powerfully muscled and have the ability to leap up to 18 feet vertically and almost 40 feet horizontally. They are excellent at bringing down larger prey, namely deer, which they primarily feed upon.

Mountain lions are almost identical in coloring, with a tawny back/sides and a white underbelly. The commonly known term "black panther," in reality usually refers to jaguars or leopards, rather than a cat in the cougar/mountain lion family.

There have been recent confirmed (filmed) sightings of mountain lions in rural western locations of Minnesota.