Mountain Lion
Kaycee Rest Stop I-25 Exit 254

Mountain lions, also known as pumas, cougars, panthers and catamounts, live in the rugged mountains and foothills of Wyoming. The foothills of the Bighorn Mountains provide some of the best mountain lion and mule deer habitat in America.

Mountain lions prefer rugged canyon country in mixed conifer or mountain mahogany cover. Mule deer and elk compose a majority of their diet. They also prey on small mammals like jackrabbits, snowshoe hares, porcupines, yellow-bellied marmots and other small rodents. In localized parts of the Bighorn Mountains, lion predation on domestic sheep is a chronic problem, thereby necessitating special management strategies and tightly regulated harvest to maintain a delicate balance between man and the cat.

Mountain lions once roamed from northern Canada to the southern tip of South America, but along with the colonizing of the Americas by European man, came the persecution and extensive habitat changes which greatly reduced the cat’s range. In Wyoming, however, vast, unbroken expanses of habitat still remain.

The Bighorns are home to the big cat. While seeing one is rare, mere knowledge of their presence adds something special to that place called Wyoming. A place where quality of life is oftentimes defined in wildlife terms.