Most people are unaware that Pumas are excellent swimmers and like Wolves and Bears, are well at home in the water both chasing prey and moving from one land mass to another.............The article below captures a fantastic picture(video can be watched on this blog) of a Puma swimming rapidly off of Vancouver Island(Canada)................If we were not so busy blasting Pumas to kingdom come in the Dakotas and Nebraska, they would migrate east, swim across the Mississippi River and recolonize all of the USA, including their historical haunts in the eastern woodlands of our Continent................It is up to us "god fearing", "right to life" preaching Americans to come to the realization that all of natures life forms merit being revered as a miracle of creation and merit having the same "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" bill of rights that we American and Canadian human residents take for granted

 

Cougar goes for fast ocean swim off Vancouver Island

timescolonist.com

 Fishing guide Graham Nielsen had seen wolves and bears swim between islands around Nootka Sound but never a cougar, and never at such a clip as he witnessed last week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As their boat turned into the gap
 between Nootka Island and Vancouver
 Island, the group spotted something in
 the water.

"One fellow saw something near the
shore. He said, 'Hey, it's an otter.
 Weird. It looks like it's paddling.'
So I say, 'Otters don't paddle,' "
 Nielsen said. "We got a bit closer
 and saw it was a cougar — not
full grown, but big. Probably 10 feet,
 nose to tail. It was moving
real fast, too. It swam nearly halfway
 across — about a quarter mile.
I didn't know they could swim like that."

Todd Culos, one of the men on Nielsen's
 boat, captured video of the
big cat swimming just a few feet behind
 the vessel.

"I have no doubt it would have tried to
climb onto the motor pod,
 given an opportunity," Nielsen said.

It's rare to see a swimming cougar,
but the behaviour is completely
 normal, said Danielle Thompson of
 Parks Canada.

"Cougars are great swimmers," said
Thompson, a resource management
 officer at Pacific Rim National Park
 Reserve who specializes in
cougar-human conflict management
and public safety.

"They'll commonly swim between
 islands in search of prey. Their
preferred prey is deer, which also
 swim well," she said.

Cougars also hunt mink and raccoons
 — and sea animals such
 as otters, seals and sea lion pups.
 "They're a highly adaptable predator."

Thompson doesn't believe cougars in
the water pose a significant
 threat to swimmers or boaters. In fact,
 it's the opposite.

"Give them lots of space. Animals are
 very vulnerable in the water.
 They do drown."

Still, their swimming abilities mean
 trying to escape a cougar on
 land by heading into the water is not
 a good response.

"I've seen deer do this and it didn't go
well," Thompson said.

Instead, stand your ground. Maintain
 eye contact and back away.
 If the animal lingers, pick up a stick
 and make yourself appear
bigger. Shout, and fight if you must.

.