Learn about the unique personalities
of the mountain lions of Catamount
Creek Ranch.
Current Residents
Skye
We adopted Skye as a kitten and bottle-fed her in our home until she was big enough to need her own space.
Lily
As one of The Little Rascals, Lily has the liveliest personality. She’s very curious and is the most bold, being the first to check out people and toys.
Jake
As one of The Little Rascals, Jake is the most rambunctious. In play, he has broken two different hutches in his night house. He has a plastic ball like Josie’s and loves to throw it around, getting his paw under it and throwing it across his night house and leaping across his night house to catch it again. We think he was watching Josie to learn a thing or two.
Lucy
As one of The Little Rascals, Lucy is more reserved. She had a fracture in her left front leg that required her to be in isolation for three months. She has fully recovered and is now living the good life with her sister, Lily. She enjoys running around in a larger enclosure, exploring more of her environment and experiencing her true mountain lion nature. She tends to be more timid, hiding behind Lily when strangers approach. She loves her sister.
In Memory
Lilah
Lilah, along with Elissa and Sam, was one of the founding members of Catamount Creek Ranch. She came from a facility in northwest Colorado in 1998 which Chris, our founder, managed.
Due to a misunderstanding of mountain lions, her previous owner had her canines filed flat. Because of the inferior quality of this initial dental work, Lilah experienced abscesses and other dental issues throughout her life. She underwent multiple root canal surgeries in an effort to correct and heal the initial dental work.
Despite these issues, Lilah was an amazing cat. Because of the deep levels of trust and respect between Chris and Lilah, she was very protective of him. One afternoon Chris was found asleep in her hutch while she wrapped herself around him and groomed his face and arms with her tongue. This is how she earned the nickname “Mama Lilah.”
She had amazing levels of energy and played many games with Chris in the larger enclosure. Hiding in the bushes and play-pouncing on him when he least expected it was one of her favorites.
Unfortunately, Lilah passed away in early 2010 at the age of 19. A special area of the enclosure is dedicated to her memory.
Elissa
Elissa, along with Lilah and Sam, was one of the founding members of Catamount Creek Ranch. She came from a facility in northwest Colorado in 1998 which Chris, our founder, managed.
Prior to arriving at that facility, Elissa served as an educational cat with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. She was very comfortable around people because of this background.
Elissa had a very spunky nature and loved to play games. Her favorite was to chase a plastic milk jug tied on a rope to a stick that Chris held. Once she caught her “prey,” she would take it back into her night house. As she was walking her “prey” back to her night house, it looked like Chris was taking Elissah for a walk.
Elissa had a spirit that wouldn’t quit. In her later years when she was experiencing typical issues of old age, we thought she wouldn’t make it but she pulled through year after year. She finally passed away at the very old age of 23. We have a special place under her favorite tree for her memorial.
Leah
Leah came to us in the spring of 2010 from a photography farm in northern Montana. When she arrived at Catamount Creek Ranch, we could see joy light up her eyes. She had plenty of room to roam as she got out to explore her surroundings. After dental surgery, she was back to perfect health until old age caught up with her. Leah loved to get out each day and roam around the larger enclosure. She would play and pounce like a happy mountain lion should.
Sam
Sam, along with Lilah and Elissa, was one of the founding members of Catamount Creek Ranch. He came from a facility in northwest Colorado in 1998 which Chris, our founder, managed.
Sam was always the “man of the house” and very protective of everyone, especially Lilah. His mellow demeanor surprised many as it’s not quite the norm for an intact male mountain lion.
Unlike the energetic females, Sam preferred to conserve his energy with lots of sleeping and lying in the sun. When he was younger, his favorite toy was a burlap bag filled with old T-shirts, sprinkled with allspice. Apparently, allspice is like catnip for big cats. He would chase and dismember his “prey” and we would end up with shreds of T-shirts around the enclosure.
Like Elissa, Sam surprised us with his will to live. He passed away in late 2012 at the old age of 23 (the oldest intact male that we’re aware of).
Attilli
Attilli came to us from a facility in Montana after frostbitten ears ended his movie career.
Josie
Josie came to us in 2001 from a facility east of Denver, Colorado where she spent her first seven years in a small enclosure with a cement floor and a dogloo.
When she first arrived at Catamount Creek Ranch, it was the first time she could express her natural instinct of caching (burying) things. The floors of our night houses are covered in many inches of softwood shavings. The morning of her second day with us, we awoke to a giant pile of shavings in the corner of her night house. For the first few days, every time we would spread out the shavings, she would rake them into a pile again. And we could tell that she was having a great time doing it.
Josie also loved to play with the big, plastic ball in her night house. Many times we would wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of her batting the ball into the air and against the sides of her night house, doing all kinds of acrobatics to catch it and throw it again.
She loved to talk to everyone with her little chirps and hide from visitors and jump out when they least expected it.
Josie passed away in the winter of 2012/3 of old age. She spent her last few days and nights in a special enclosure inside so she could stay warm and so we could keep a close watch over her. We’ll miss her spunky, playful personality.
Catamount Creek Ranch LLC is owned by the Mountain Lion Rehabilitation Organization, a 501(c)3 non-profit