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1

OregonTripleBeam t1_ja8luvx wrote

Can you imagine kayaking around and seeing a mountain lion heading towards you in the water...yikes.

166

AJChelett t1_ja8orio wrote

Guess that makes it a sea lion now

101

wanderyote t1_ja8rbjf wrote

if a mountain lion can swim that far, it makes it likely that at some point one got eaten by an orca.

88

gobbo t1_ja8ytxa wrote

Replying to TheFlyingBoxcar (#2,065,478)

Orcas are fussy eaters: the Salish sea resident J pod, for instance, only really eat salmon, and the genetically nearly identical, but culturally quite different transient pods, are particular about eating seals and sea lions and whales and things with lots of fat on them.

Chances are the transients would ping this feline and realize it's nothing but sinew and bones with almost no fat and not worth eating.

57

dasus t1_ja9008c wrote

>“We are redefining the mountain lion in our minds as an animal that can swim.”

I never thought of it as an animal that couldn't swim.

I think basically the only mammals that can't properly swim are giraffes and and great apes. (Some great apes do, but like humans, a lot can't.)

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ThankuConan t1_ja92c3k wrote

Must be up the coast from Puget Sound.

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dasus t1_ja97hen wrote

Replying to LornAltElthMer (#2,068,908)

Oh damn, true, I forgot that, as they're pretty aquatic, but yeah, you are right, they just run underwater, haha.

Eh, they're just the part of the branch that stayed in the shallows. (Whale evolution docs are cool)

Seems like going back from land to water has happened quite a few times. Taxonomy is interesting and your comment made me look a bit, and to my surprise, hippos are more closely related to cetaceans than they are to manatees. I mean, I had never given it any thought before, but I didn't realise how different manatees and dugongs are from cetaceans.

Also, seals and walruses. Weird that a hippo can't swim, but walruses can. They both look heavy enough, but guess hippos do be a bit denser.

8

LornAltElthMer t1_ja97xsl wrote

Replying to dasus (#2,069,384)

I'm guessing with the walruses it's the flippers that make the difference.

Just going by appearance I'd have guessed a hippo and a manatee would be more closely related, but here we are ;-)

3

Corellians t1_ja98rs8 wrote

If you think this is impressive, you should hear them scream

7

Ppleater t1_ja9a1k3 wrote

Replying to LornAltElthMer (#2,068,908)

It's not so much that they can't swim, but rather that they can't float, so they have to move along the bottom by running along or leaping off the ground. But if they were made more buoyant I bet they'd be powerful swimmers.

5

somajones t1_ja9af47 wrote

The tag on a black bear a coworker hunted indicated it had swam across east Grand Traverse Bay at some point, a distance of 3 - 5 miles. They are pretty fat though. I imagine it could spend a lot of time just floating and conserving its energy.

7

Splenda t1_ja9flyf wrote

Paywalled. Which island? Every rock near Puget Sound is inhabited these days.

8

lizcopic t1_ja9igm0 wrote

They’re gonna eat SO good if they make it to San Juan! All those lil deer and chickens everywhere are about to learn a hard lesson about the food chain.

6

Marine__0311 t1_ja9qazx wrote

Replying to wanderyote (#2,065,035)

It's feasible, but highly, unlikely.

Orcas have been observed preying on several aquatic mammal species, but never on a swimming terrestrial mammal. But, some carcasses of moose, and one deer, have been found with bite marks consistent with an orca attack.

Orca pods have different ecotypes, and often specialize on specific prey species. They only occasionally go after prey outside of their preferences.

7

dr3wzy10 t1_jaa4iqo wrote

Replying to gobbo (#2,075,033)

Orcas have been observed preying on terrestrial mammals, such as deer swimming between islands off the northwest coast of North America

took that from the wikipedia page. I think the same area that these orca have been observed eating deer that swim in the water has a pack of wolves that also swims in those waters. So, maybe what i said is a stretch from a stretch but still within the realm of possibility i believe.

5

showturtle t1_jaa54al wrote

We have a summer cabin on one of the islands in the Sound and there is a bear that swims out to the island from the mainland every year- it’s a little over a mile.

There’s some bizarre fauna on some of those islands- there’s one that has herds of African(?) animals (they look like gazelle or springbok- I’ve never really been able to get a good look). I’ve seen them a couple times from kayaking/sailing nearby. I was told that the owner of that island set it up as a private hunting preserve (not sure if true).

6

runsslow t1_jaa860x wrote

Oh no. Here come the sea lions…?

6

Gerald98053 t1_jaach9q wrote

Replying to GymAndGarden (#2,071,238)

Although at times in the past we called it “pungent sound.” The paper mills in Everett used to dump their effluent into the Sound and the sulfurous odor was extreme. Good times, good times.

11

FrigFrostyFeet t1_jaar08g wrote

Replying to Marine__0311 (#2,074,568)

Where did you get “and one deer”? Lolol

“Orcas have been observed preying on terrestrial mammals, such as deer swimming between islands off the northwest coast of North America.” Straight from wiki

−5

historical_regret2 t1_jaau8of wrote

Replying to Drewy99 (#2,065,765)

It’s this way on the coast of BC. Very dense cougar territory. If you’re kayaking through and you know there’s a cougar around, it can be a bit spooky. I’ve spent some nights on some small islands where I’ve faced the trees, rather than the beach, while sitting at the campfire. Just didn’t want to turn my back on the woods. You know they’re there.

41

historical_regret2 t1_jaaur32 wrote

Replying to dasus (#2,067,331)

I think it’s a question of how far they can swim.

For example, Vancouver Island (tons of cougars) has historically never had a breeding population of brown bears, which is insane given its size and abundant perfect brown bear habitat.

Turns out that it’s because female brown bears can’t quite hack the swim from the mainland. Males can, and there are always a few males wandering the island, but females don’t and as such a population never got established.

So female brown bears can swim - just not the 3 km or so that it takes to island hop from the mainland to the nearest point of Van island.

10

spiralbatross t1_jaaz3qh wrote

Replying to OregonTripleBeam (#2,063,544)

This summer…

WHITE WATER CAT DEMON THING

“Harry, grab my hand, he’s almost at the boat!”

female cougar in heat noises amidst splashes

“I can’t do it Janet, he’s just too fast! Aaaahh!”

…you’re in a catamountain of trouble

2

DarkC0ntingency t1_jab0jcv wrote

A cougar from the puget sound ate my cat, my neighbors cat, and another neighbors dog in like 2 weeks in 2009. Nearly killed my dad.

Washington cougars are just a different breed of cougar. They have zero chill and no fear. I have no problem believing they cross oceans out of spite if they really wanted to.

Fuckin’ wasps in cat form.

Edit: because apparently some people are angry: I’m being slightly hyperbolic in my word choice here. I don’t have a raging hateboner for cougars. Frankly I blame the local city more than anything for basically saying “look, we can’t do anything about it until it attacks a human”.

3

SephithDarknesse t1_jab125d wrote

Replying to OregonTripleBeam (#2,063,544)

I cant imagine they'd actually attack much while in the water, it would he an incredibly vulnerable position for them. Instinct would say that attacking a floating object (bird) would cause it to sink, and eating it would cause them to fail at swimming.

4

LimeWizard t1_jab8rvq wrote

Didn't see see a sub population of wolves in the Pacific northwest start swimming and eating fish? Could something like that be happening?

1

Frosti11icus t1_jabfvfd wrote

Replying to historical_regret2 (#2,086,362)

There's Sea Wolves on the BC Coast in addition to bears, so it's pretty well established that Apex predators not only can swim, but it appears is necessary in order to survive on the BC coast. I'm not knocking science here because I understand this is how the process works, but it's surprising that anyone would assume Cougars don't swim...

22

Frosti11icus t1_jabg5lv wrote

Replying to gobbo (#2,075,033)

There are Sea Wolves in the Upper Pacific Northwest. They are packs of wolves who swim between islands to hunt. IDK if it's true Orca's are hunting them...but they aren't very well studied anyway so I doubt there's anyone looking for evidence.

9

Aimish79 t1_jabjw6a wrote

Squaxin Island, SW corner of the Puget Sound. Roughly north of Olympia. Wiki says the Island is an uninhabited tribal reservation for the Squaxin people. Probably just a big, unofficial, nature preserve now.

2

ZenwalkerNS t1_jabn8gu wrote

All cats are good swimmers. They just don't like to be thrown into water or forced to be bathed.

1

SentenceofJudgement t1_jabsdx3 wrote

So we utilise moats with high walls (that they would probably be able to scale without the moat) to keep these animals contained in zoos, will be interesting to see if that changes over time or if this is just an anomaly.

1

SandwitchCoveness t1_jabx9bo wrote

I thought all animals can swim, even if just a little bit? A mountain lion swimming isn't a surprise

2

redlines4life t1_jabxhwg wrote

Odd question, but does their fur help make them more buoyant?

1

PlantingMatters t1_jac409j wrote

It amazes me that despite impending ecological collapse, so many people on this thread express personalized fear at this discovery than see it as a potential triumph for the animal. The personalization of fear while at the same time systemically pushing others to extinction is curious. Please contextualize your emotions.

−1

pk666 t1_jac4b6m wrote

It's that look, that the lioness, gives her man across the Nile

I will swim to you.

I will swim to......you

1

kjbaran t1_jacid3e wrote

She just needed someone new

1

Jaedos t1_jaco5yg wrote

Well ya. Just like you'd never guess that Orcas are natural predators of Moose.

1

ChiselledMess t1_jacsedg wrote

So not only do we have to look out for sharks and crocs, you’ve added mountain lions to the list of reasons I won’t swim in the sea.

1

TheOmniAlms t1_jad1cdx wrote

What?? Isn't this common knowledge?

15 years ago we knew mountain lions were swimming to islands near P.E.I. Who is "we"?

1

unga-unga t1_jaeaaua wrote

Sometimes I feel like people just need to go outside more. I don't understand how anyone would study cougars without realizing that they swim, and sometimes pointlessly, for fun. The very first time i ever saw one in the wild, as a child, it was swimming the Siuslaw river clean across in late spring (river is huge, swolen, and rapid). Thereafter I've seen them swimming in Colorado, California, Oregon, and Arizona. Sometimes I feel like these biologists just aren't hikers.

They probably think foxes don't climb and that bears are anti-social and old crap like that.

1