Cougar Radio Collaring (Black Hills, South Dakota)

This series of pictures shows myself and fellow grad students fitting an adult male cougar (Puma concolor) with a tracking collar for another student's project. The animal weighed (first picture - that's me on the left) 155 pounds. While we were climbing the mountain at night, we could hear that we had a cat. A little unnerving considering the power cougars possess. Even anesthetized, I would not have an easy time "arm wrestling" the male's tail because it was so strong. You can see the size of his paw compared to our hands (second picture - that's me on the far right). The third picture shows the proper fit of the collar as well as the blindfold which reduces stress on the animal and prevents debris from entering the eye. After administering the antagonist (aka reversal) to the anesthetic, the cougar was led to a relatively level area free from rocks and trees (that it might injure itself on as it recovers) for release.