The cougar has keen eyesight and good hearing. It has a small head, big ears, powerful jaws, long, pointed canine teeth, and sharp, retractable claws on each foot. The brown eyes have circular pupils. The young have a spotted coat, but become solid tan to gray-brown at six months of age. It is a fast, solitary hunter that hunts both during the day and at night.
Cougars stalk their prey and then ambush it by leaping from the ground or from a tree.
They kill large animals by pouncing on the back and breaking the neck. They bury large prey with leaves and twigs to hide the carcass from other animals until they are able to finish eating it.