Strong jaws and long canine teeth then make it possible for the cougars to kill their prey with one bit to the nape of the neck. After intial feeding a cougar may cover the carcass with leaves or other debris to be saved fro a later meal. Cougars begin breeding at about 3 years of age and may mate during any season. Typical litters 1 of 6 kittens are born after a gestation period of 82 to 98 days. Their eye's open 8 or 9 days and the young are weaned in 2 to 3 months, though the kittens may remail with the mother into their second year.
Cougars can occoupy a variety of habitats from coastal swamps to mountain slopes.
These large predators require extensive undisturbed forest areas that also support adequate white-tailed deer populations. The saber-toothed cat belonged to a group of carnivors that are now extinct. Smilodon, the best known member of this group, was a ferocious hunter. The best-known smilodon fossils were discovered in the fossil tar pits at Rancho La Brea in Los Angeles, California. The tar pits were formed by oil seeping up to the grounds surface.