Old time Mountain men also used to call them a Painter, which was some illiterate version of panther. You can read it in books about the period and in some old movies.
I think that’s what they call “authentic frontier gibberish”. 
One of the “most SF things ever” I’ve seen is a sign explaining to people that a coyote is in the area, explaining what a coyote is, it’s not a dog and don’t pet it. I think this was Buena Vista Park.
As for mountain lions, expect it’s not the last one. Males can range far, a certain percentage have a tendency for wanderlust.
Correct.
Whooooosh.
Up north, here in the PNW, I think “mountain lion” and “cougar” are used about equally. If you say “puma”, people will know what you mean, but might assume you’re talking about a shoe brand.
It’s rare to hear them referred to as “panther”, but that term is used elsewhere in the US.
Agree that is plausible. Along with utilizing the beach at night.
No talking like a grizzled 1890s prospector, consarn it!
Rerrrit!
No doubt I am too sensitive. But it is hard for me to believe that this would be considered funny in 2026.
I never even put together the “Snagglepuss is gay” joke. I watched him on TV as a kid and, okay, in retrospect I get it (speaks effeminately, has pink fur), but I didn’t realize that was what the comment was. That went over my head. I just thought of him as a “fancy panther”, and thought that was the reference. I feel dumb.
Or, British, even.
Snagglepuss is gay?? That thought had honestly never occurred to me.
Okay, so I’m not the only one. But I think that was what @Roderick_Femm was referencing, since this is a story about a cougar in San Francisco, and one thing the city is known for is its gay scene. That’s the only way I can think that the comment might be considered offensive, and as I said, in retrospect that makes sense. I just didn’t pick up on that angle.
I think that a pink cat, in general, is the sort of thing that wouldn’t seem out of place in San Francisco.
I think maybe you should make extra-sure that your search history auto-clears periodically.
Is “cougar” meant to denote any older person seeking sexual pleasure with a younger partner?
I always assumed it referred to older women who pursue younger men.
A few years ago there was an episode of Nature titled “Meet the Coywolf” about coyote/wolf hybrids, primarily in SE Canada and NE US. While I’m going from memory — it seems to have disappeared from the PBS website — researchers put a tracking collar on one and found that he had a remarkably large range, primarily using railroad right of way. So it seems logical that a cougar could do the same.
I don’t think it was a play on slang for “cougar”, just the city itself.
[quote=“Atamasama, post:38, topic:1027100, full:true”]
I don’t claim to be a San Franciscan, but I was raised by one.
But this is the very first I’ve heard of The City being likened to a cougar (of either description).
I’ve personally never heard of it called a ‘panther,’ except in the case of Florida panthers. However. . . for decades there have been intermittent sightings of ‘black panthers’ (i.e. mountain lions) in the southeast. Game wardens have said repeatedly that (except for the aforementioned Florida panthers), it’s very unlikely that there are mountain lions of any color in the Eastern US.