Cougars begin breeding at about 3 years of age and may mate during any season. Typical litters of 1 to 6 kittens are born after a gestation period of 82 to 98 days. Their eyes open in 8 or 9 days and the young are weaned in 2 to 3 months, though the kittens may remain with the mother into their second year. Cougars can occupy a variety of habitats from coastal swamps to mountain slopes. These large predators require extensive, undisturbed forested areas that also support adequate white-tailed deer populations.
Cougars are still fairly abundant in some of the sparsely populated western states.
Today the only known cougar species still found in eastern North America is the Florida Panther. They survive as a small remnant population in the remote, thickly wooded swamps of south Florida. It is thought that the Eastern Cougar, the species native to the southern Appalachian region, is now extinct in the wild. Although the last known cougars disappeared from our area during the 1800's, occasional, unconfirmed sightings are reported. Most of these sightings turn out to be other animals but some may be valid.