Picture this: A Wyoming mountain lion spies an unsuspecting deer as it wanders through a dense patch of forest in Yellowstone National Park. This particular area is perfect for the cat’s preferred method of hunting: surprise attacks.
When the deer is most vulnerable, this deadly feline leaps onto the deer’s back and delivers a lethal bite to the neck. Then, the cougar eats its fill. But it’s a solitary predator — it can’t consume an entire deer in one day. Much of the carcass ends up in the bellies of smaller predators, and the rest of the remains sink into the thirsty soil.
The cat repeats this process again and again in the same area, leaving behind enough raw meat and bones to create a nutrient-rich hotspot that nurtures plants, carrion feeders, and — eventually — brings back more elk and deer.
Losing much of a prey’s bloody scraps works just fine for the cat. After all, this area is one of its favorite kill zones. By keeping the spot healthy, the cougar increases the chances of success on its next hunt.
Garden to Hunt
This “garden to hunt” strategy, shared in the journal Landscape Ecology last month, isn’t just a fascinating glimpse into the secret lives of mountain lions. It shows that these big cats, also called pumas, cougars, or any number of other regional names, have a bigger impact on the environment than previously known.
“Pumas contribute over a million kg of meat to ecosystems every day, improving the quality of soil and plant life, feeding hundreds of species, and supporting the health of their ecosystems and our planet’s overall web of life,” said study co-author and puma expert Mark Elbroch. “Their behaviors and contributions to nature are far more complex than imagined.”