# Why is "mountain lion" preferred over "cougar"?". **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447 "2012-03-11T06:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/21 "2012-03-11T18:18:46Z")
(Did anyone else think this thread was going to be about Apple’s OS naming conventions?) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/22 "2012-03-11T19:06:06Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > (Did anyone else think this thread was going to be about Apple’s OS naming conventions?) What will Apple do when they run out of cats? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/23 "2012-03-11T19:48:05Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Anybody else remember Tom Smothers “Sure looks like a **puma**!” > . [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NIfl2o44zb0/hqdefault.jpg "Smothers Brothers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIfl2o44zb0) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/24 "2012-03-11T21:02:54Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > What will Apple do when they run out of cats? MacOS X 10.41 Garfield. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/25 "2012-03-11T21:19:13Z")
Heh. I was thinking Felix. If they get really desperate, they can make “MacOSX 11.21 Domestic Shorthair.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/26 "2012-03-11T21:41:09Z")
> [@EdwardLost](#): > > As far as I can tell “cougar” is a well understood and unambiguous common term for _Puma concolor_, but the media and nature officials seem to prefer “mountain lion”. Why? Also because, thanks to modern slang, people would get the giggles about being chased by hot middle-aged women. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/27 "2012-03-11T22:05:43Z")
We call them mountain lions in California. One was in my goat pasture two nights ago and nearly killed one of my does who was probably trying to defend her kid (she was bitten severely in the face). The kid was carried off. We ran out and drove the cat off (pitch black no time for flashlights), the doe was saved through surgery and will probably keep her eye too, the kid also turned up in the morning with bite wounds on each side. They are very big. What they are called just depends on where you live, like most native species. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/28 "2012-03-11T22:49:29Z")
In my experience the term is mountain lion in most of the West. I believe the zoo in Albuquerque uses the term mountain lion, although of course they also give the scientific name and perhaps a little blurb about all the other names. In Red Dead Redemption, you’re hunting (or being hunted by) cougars. Seeing as how the game was made by Rockstar San Diego, I wonder if they were going with the most common name. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/29 "2012-03-11T23:13:56Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > MacOS X 10.41 Garfield. Bloatware. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/30 "2012-03-11T23:36:24Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > the kid also turned up in the morning with bite wounds on each side. Is it unusual for the kid to survive? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/31 "2012-03-12T00:37:20Z")
The media here call them cougars. You can tell when the news guy is not from here, then they become mountain lions. We’ve always called them cougars. When I was a kid, I lived down the road from Cougar Martin. I really thought he first name was cougar. I was disapointed when I found out it was Russel ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/32 "2012-03-12T00:48:36Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Also because, thanks to modern slang, people would get the giggles about being chased by hot middle-aged women. LEELA: I don’t get it. PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH: Fry, back in 2235 zoologists renamed the big cat in question to put that lame joke to rest once and for all. FRY: Oh – so what do they call it now? PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH: They call it the “North American Mountain Milf.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/33 "2012-03-12T01:29:43Z")
[A panther was the father of Jesus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Iulius_Abdes_Pantera), according to some. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/34 "2012-03-12T02:44:33Z")
Besides, John Puma Concolor Mellencamp just doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/35 "2012-03-12T03:21:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is it unusual for the kid to survive? well, the cat got scared and dropped her, apparently. They do like to carry their prey away to a safe place (like up in a tree), and why she wasn’t killed beforehand, well, you’d have to ask the cat. Who fractured the mother goat’s skull in four places, with one bite. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/36 "2012-03-12T03:56:30Z")
Many people are unaware that Puma, Catamount, Panther, Mountain Lion, and a few other names can all be applied to the same animal, and think they are different species. Perhaps Mountain Lion is the term the most people would correctly associate with the animal. ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/37 "2012-03-12T06:18:07Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > LEELA: I don’t get it. > > PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH: Fry, back in 2235 zoologists renamed the big cat in question to put that lame joke to rest once and for all. > > FRY: Oh – so what do they call it now? > > PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH: They call it the “North American Mountain Milf.” Ha! Terrific! I’m in California. Maybe it’s just around here that the media calls them mountain lions. But I’m pretty sure everyone around here would recognize “cougar” for the same animal. The only thing I can think of is that somehow some editors got it in their heads that “mountain lion” is correct and that “cougar” is colloquial or slang. For “puma” or “panther” I can see some objection. “Puma” can be taken to refer to just the Florida population. And “panther” can sometimes refer to some other big cat species. But as far as I can tell, “cougar” is perfectly correct and unambiguous. Maybe we should refer to those other kind of cougars as “mountain lionesses”.(Mounting lionesses?) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/38 "2012-03-12T08:56:28Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The media here call them cougars. You can tell when the news guy is not from here, then they become mountain lions. I’ll second this. In the Northwest, they’re cougars. Unless they come from Pullman, in which case it’s usually shortened to just [Cougs](http://www.wsu.edu/) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/39 "2012-03-12T17:36:39Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The media here call them cougars. You can tell when the news guy is not from here, then they become mountain lions. > > We’ve always called them cougars. When I was a kid, I lived down the road from Cougar Martin. I really thought he first name was cougar. I was disapointed when I found out it was Russel > [@dtilque](#): > > I’ll second this. In the Northwest, they’re cougars. Unless they come from Pullman, in which case it’s usually shortened to just [Cougs](http://www.wsu.edu/) Yup, I’ve lived in Washington all my life (46 years) and have always heard them called “cougars”. Also, [obligatory xkcd link](http://www.xkcd.com/999/). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447/40 "2012-03-12T18:26:00Z")
[quote=“Duckster, post:23, topic:615447”] [/QUOTE] Thank you for that link! . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-mountain-lion-preferred-over-cougar/615447.md?page=3)