The Curious Cougars (1982)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] the southwestern United States a region of hot colorful deserts of strange rock formations and deep canyons in this part of the Southwest Avo Indians live and tend their sheep and the large cats call the Cougars prowl once cougars roamed much of North America today they live mainly here some travel the hot deserts and canyons some wander the high mountains the high cold mountains that rise above the [Music] desert here on these snow covered slopes that look down on deep canyons and Barren deserts mother cougar and her growing kittens [Music] live two young cougars curious about their world and the other living things in it [Music] cougar kittens are large when they're born about 12 in long and they grow fast they stay with their mother until they're a year or so old eventually they may grow to be 7 ft long and weigh 180 lb but now these young cougars are only about half as big as their mother they have a lot of growing to do and much to learn some lessons come from watching their mother and others from mistakes but Falls aren't usually dangerous for cougars they've been known to drop safely from a height of 60 ft [Music] [Applause] these cougars share their living space with many other animals some that can be as ferocious as they [Music] are neither the bear nor the young cougar is interested in being ferocious right now each is simply curious about the other each is being a little careful too a playful SW SWAT but the cougar isn't going to wait for the bear to swat back but now that the cougar is safe up the tree the big question is how can the cougar get down out of the tree past the bear the answer is another lesson learned teamwork [Music] helps while one of the young cougars is in the tree the other one silently creeps up on the bear and then that was enough to frighten the bear away or maybe the bear just decided that two cougars to one bear wasn't a fair match and so their curiosity helps the young cougars learn more about their world and about the other an animal that live in it how to live peacefully with them or protect themselves when they have [Music] to once in a while humans come riding up into the mountains where the two young cougars live with their [Music] mother although humans may bring guns the cougar are safe because they're protected by conservation laws cougars usually keep away from people but mother cougars are very protective of their young and if it looks like someone or some animal is getting too close a mother cougar will take action the loud rifle shot should be enough to stop the mother cougar from chasing the [Music] dog it is but the young cougars have been very frightened by the [Music] sound while their mother cautiously watches to make sure the Riders and their dogs are leaving she doesn't know that her kittens are no longer nearby frightened by The Gunshot the young cougars have headed down into a canyon [Music] now as they follow a path toward the river that flows through the canyon into the desert new sights and sounds and odors make them curious to find out what sort of a place they've wandered into [Music] [Music] a swift flowing river is hard to get [Music] across but cougars are good swimmers raccoons the Cougars have seen raccoons before up in the mountain but they're still curious about these furry little animals this is a kind of play for the young cougars exercise that will help them become good Hunters when they're older [Applause] [Applause] the Cougars soon Tire of this kind of play not far past the stream a much more interesting experience lies ahead for them here a family of Navajo Indians lives and tends a small flock of sheep the Navajo tribe is one of the larg in North America almost all of the navajos live out here in the American southwest before Europeans settled America the navajos were Wanderers who hunted and farmed but now those who live here are mostly sheep herders [Music] because the navajos know that cougars live in the mountains above them they know there's always the danger that a hungry cougar might come into their Corral and carry off a [Music] lamb but that's not what these young cougars mean to do they're only curious about the woly animals in the Corral one of the Cougars is curious enough to go right into the Corral and have a close look at those strange animals inside at least they're strange to the cougar the mother sheep sense danger and stay close to their lambs now the women have seen the cougar the fact that it's young and only curious means very little to them the cougar is a threat to their sheep the Cougars weren't quite ready for this kind of experience but they've learned from it and now the Young Cougar's mother has found them she guides them out of the canyon back to the high cool mountains back to their home where they have much more growing and much more learning to do [Music] n [Music]