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A guide covering the Biological Considerations, General Life History, Identific

A guide covering the Biological Considerations, General Life History, Identification, Assessment, and Management of Puma concolor. Written by Harley G. Shaw, Paul Beier, Melanie Culver, & Melissa Grigione. Copyright © 2007 The Cougar Network. Back To Main Menu The Cougar Network Presents Puma Field Guide Harley G. Shaw Paul Beier Melanie Culver Melissa Grigione ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks for much of the practical knowledge in this publication go to Ollie Barney George Goswick, Clell Lee, Dale Lee, Bill Murphy, and Bill Workman. Margaret T. Morris and Eugene P. Polk provided the sites and opportunity for study. Thanks are also due to Jack O'Neil for editing an earlier guide; and to N. Woolsey, J. Wegge, and R. Day for ideas on track identification. More recently, Jack Childs, Holly Ernest, Lee Fitzhugh, Kevin Hansen, Brad McCrae, John Laundré, Ken Logan, Susan Morse, John Phelps, Shawn Smallwood, Don Swann, Linda Sweanor, and Anthony Wright have provided suggestions. John Phelps contributed his own ideas regarding new content. Chuck Anderson has reviewed and updated the latest revision. Bob Wilson and Mark Dowling collaborated to bring about this new edition. Matt Peirce also commented on the manuscript. Many others have contributed knowledge on puma since this field guide was first published. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ILLUSTRATIONS TABLES INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………..….5 BIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS ……………………………………….…...7 PUMA TAXONOMY The New Classification Conservation Implications of the New Taxonomy Implications for Puma Management MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH HISTORY ……………………..13 Research Needs GENERAL LIFE HISTORY …………………………………………………....17 CLASSES OF PUMA Movements and Range Depredation Behavior Cattle Domestic Sheep Horses Deer Elk Bighorn and Pronghorn Other Artiodactyls Smaller Prey Humans MANAGEMENT …………………………………………………………………31 Identifying Sign Tracks Canid Track Identification Puma vs. Bobcat Identification Scrapes Scats Kills Other Sign Handling Depredations …………………………………………..55 Wildlife Livestock Human/Puma Interactions ………………………………………57 Avoiding Attacks Responding to a Puma Encounter Incident Reports Determining Level of Response Sighting/Report of a Puma ……………………………………....60 Recurring Sightings 3 Incident—Actual Conflict with Human Attack Gathering Evidence Securing the Incident Site Handling the Offending Animal Wildlife Attack Report Reopening the Area Media Contact CAPTURING AND HANDLING PUMA ………………………………65 Objectives Control of Public Capture Methods Hounds Steel Traps and Leg Snares Cage Traps Immobilizing ASSESSING POPULATIONS …………………………………………..75 Establishing Goals Monitoring Trends …………………………………………….…76 Track and Sign Counts Disadvantages of Sign Surveys Advantages of Sign Surveys Statistical Treatment of Data Species Trends Evaluation of Causes Population Composition Identification of Individual Puma By Tracks Set Cameras DNA Methods Collecting Samples Gender Determination ……………………………………………91 Determining the Sex of Treed Pumas Age Determination ………………………………………………100 Coloration and Anatomy-Pelage Weight Anatomical Measurements Tooth Irruption and Replacement Analysis of Dental Cementum Gumline Recession ASSESSING HABITAT AND VIABILITY OF POPULATIONS…...109 Area of Habitat and Habitat Fragmentation Corridors Population Model - Program puma REFERENCES APPENDIX--FORMS 4 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Photograph of G&F biologist(s) radio-tagging puma Figure 2 Old subspecies ranges Figure 3 New subspecies ranges Figure 4 Photo of white-faced calf killed by puma Figure 5 Map of puma distribution Figure 6 Photographs of mature female with kittens Figure 7 Photograph of subadult puma Figure 8 Photograph of puma kitten Figure 9 Photograph of kill of domestic sheep Figure 10 a, b, c, d, e, f Horse predation / barbed wire photographs Figure 10 g, h Photograph of typical deer kill site / Bull Elk killed by puma Figure 11 a ,b, c Photograph of puma-killed bighorn, hog, armadillo Figure 12 Photograph showing measuring heel width of puma track Figure 13 Comparison of tracks of puma and dog showing angle used in distinguishing species. Figure 14 Tracing a Track Figure 15 Photograph of scrape Figure 16 Photograph of dissected esophagus of elk Figure 17 Photograph of tooth marks on throat of deer Figure 18 Photograph of tooth marks on throat of deer Figure 19 Photograph of covered deer kill Figure 20 Photograph of drag marks Figure 21 a, b, c Photograph of recently killed deer, barely opened and showing plucked hair. Figure 22 Snare set illustration from Logan et al. Figure 23 Photograph of cage trap Figure 24 Track set measurements for identifying individual puma Figure 25 a, b, c Drawing showing “Fjelline” method of measuring track Figure 26 Discriminate analysis plot of individual puma track measurements Figure 27 a, b, c Photo of hair snare Figure 28 a, b, c, d, e Genitalia of male and female puma, dental characteristics Figure 29 a, b Measurement at enamel/cementum juncture of male and female puma Figure 30 Sex of Treed puma Figure 31 Pelage spotting on puma Figure 32 a, b Photo of immature and mature female puma nipple Figure 33 Age tail-length relationships Figure 34 Tooth wear sketch from Ashman Figure 35 Lateral view of skill. Figure 36 a, b Photos of gum line recession . Figure 37 Age-gum line recession relationships Figure 38 a, b, c Intraspecific aggression (Puma attacking Puma) TABLES Table 1 Heel pad measurements of various classes of puma Table 2 Potential track combinations and interpretations Table.3. a, b, Guide for Estimating Ages of Puma Kittens by Tooth Eruption Sequences & Criteria for Estimating Ages of Adult Puma CHARTS Chart 1 Canid Identification Chart 2 Canid Identification of Front Feet 5 INTRODUCTION Our view of the mountain lion has changed since the earlier editions of this field guide were published (Shaw 1979, 1983, 1987). The species has been placed under a different genus, Puma, which gives it status as a unique New World felid. We have chosen to acknowledge this change by hereafter referring to the animal as puma rather than the longer and less biologically appropriate “mountain lion” (Anderson 1983). Recent studies of puma genetics have reduced the number of subspecies, now called ecotypes, from 32 to 6 (Culver 1999). For the United States and Canada, the number has dropped from 15 to 1. This new classification seems more compatible with our increasing knowledge of the mobility of this large cat, and geneticist Melanie Culver provides a perspective on the subject herein. Studies throughout the western United States and Canada have contributed improved methods for capturing puma and assessing puma sign. Much work has been done testing non-invasive methods for monitoring puma populations and detecting their presence in areas where their existence is in question. Track and sign counts have been used in many areas (Kutilek et al. 1983; Stone et al. 1996; Smallwood 1994, 1997; Smallwood and Fitzhugh 1992, 1993, 1995; Grigione et al. 1999), and, more recently, molecular genetic analysis of cats (Ernest et al. 2000) and other tissues (Taberlet and Luikart 1999) are showing promise as practical monitoring methods. Perceived uses of this guide and the audience for which it is written have also changed. The original guide was intended as a tool for Game and Fish Department field personnel to use in assessing puma populations or evaluating reports of puma predation on livestock. However, it soon found use by a number of wildlife agency personnel, as well as by interested laymen. Continuing rumors of puma in the eastern United States led to a demand for track and sign identification criteria for observers unacquainted with puma sign, and increased puma/human encounters within known puma range created a broader demand for information regarding recognition of puma sign. Because of increased frequency of attacks by puma on humans, much new information has developed that addresses appropriate responses to human/puma interactions. 6 Radio-tracking studies of puma (Figure 1) started in the 1970s in Idaho (Hornocker 1970; Seidensticker et al. 1973) followed by work in Arizona (Shaw 1977, 1980). During the 1980s and 90s, radio-tracking studies in most western states tested and expanded the findings of the early puma studies. But such studies are labor intensive and expensive. They have perhaps reached a point of diminishing returns for their cost. They are also invasive, with risk of mortality for the puma being handled. To justify the risks to personnel and puma, as well as expenses involved in puma capture and radiolocation, future radio tracking studies must focus upon specific, unanswered, questions. Routine monitoring of the species must ultimately be based upon less invasive methods that can be maintained over long periods. But puma are difficult to observe or survey, hence, biologists must learn to identify and systematically record puma sign. They must then interpret their observations, using the knowledge of puma population biology and social behavior that radio tracking studies have already disclosed. Figure 1: Agency and University Researchers Collecting Data from an Adult female Puma in Southeast Wyoming. Photo Courtesy Chuck Anderson 7 Since the original guide was published, methods of dispersal of technical information have changed drastically. Much of the material we’ve cited herein has come directly from the Internet2. Extensive information is becoming available through that source, with much of it updated fairly frequently. As a result, information that becomes fixed in hard copy may be obsolete soon after it is published. This has always been the case in science, but the rapidity with which change happens is now much greater. Nonetheless, we believe that updating the guide is worthwhile because the Internet, as popular as it is, still has a feeling of impermanence. Material uploads/Management/ puma-field-guide.pdf