# You say Puma, He says Cougar, I say Mountain Lion......

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-puma-he-says-cougar-i-say-mountain-lion/207308>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 14, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-puma-he-says-cougar-i-say-mountain-lion/207308 "2003-10-14T02:37:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-puma-he-says-cougar-i-say-mountain-lion/207308/21 "2003-10-16T21:53:51Z")

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Around here, the (evil Nazi) groundhog is also called woodchuck and whistle pig.

The bluegill, one of earth’s tastiest fish, has a host of names. I’m told that Missouri anglers throw them away! Heavens! You might as well throw away asparagus as a weed! :eek:

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-puma-he-says-cougar-i-say-mountain-lion/207308/22 "2003-10-16T22:22:49Z")

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Where my family come from, “groundhog” and “woodchuck” are synonymous (fat rodent about the size of a smallish beaver, but without the flat tail), but a “gopher” is a much smaller critter (about squirrel-sized) similar to a prarie dog. And that’s for western PA, which ought to be authoritative for the groundhog at least.

And I think that “painter” is a regional pronounciation of “panther”, for what it’s worth.

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