Cougars tend have a solitary home range, where their territories do not overlap with other cougar home ranges.  The average size of a cougar's home range is approximately 100 square miles for males and between 20 and 60 square miles for females.  In 2000, Coal Canyon, was permanently protected as a part of the State Park to ensure the cougar had room to roam through the Park and was not separated from the larger Santa Ana Mountains ecosystem, where there are thought to be between 30 and 40 cougars residing. 

They are tan in color, have long tails, with black coloring on their ears.  Their young have blue eyes, tan color and black spots.  Bobcats have significantly shorter tails, pointed ears, and are much smaller -- these are the most significant distinctions between the two species (which are often confused with one another).  On average, mountain lions weigh about 120-150 pounds and can reach a length (from nose to tail tip) of eight feet. This species can run as fast as 43.5 miles per hour!  Their strength and agility are incredible.  In fact, a cougar has enough muscle strength to clear a ten foot fence with a deer in its mouth!  Deer and other prey species, are the preferred food for the cougar.  

These deer have a dark grey and brown coloring, with small white patch at its rump.  Its tail is drooped and not uplifted -- another distinction from other deer species.  They have sturdy legs and reach a height at the shoulder of roughly 3-3.5 feet, with a length of 4-6.5 feet.  Males are larger than females and their color helps disguise them from predators such as cougars and coyotes.  Like cows, deer have a multi-chambered stomach where food can sit for a while before it is digested.  In the wild deer can live up to about 10 years, however in captivity it is 25 years.

Mule deer are herbivores and tend to prefer edge habitats.  They eat shrubs, berries and grasses and tend to be most active at dawn and dusk.  They bed down during the day and use the shade of trees and the comfort of grasses to make their temporary quarters.  It is not uncommon to see deer in the State Park, so keep your eye out on the hillsides.

Western grey squirrels are only about pound or so in weight and their length (including tail) ranges from about 17 inches to 23 inches.  These squirrels mate from December to June and their young emerge between March and August.  There are normally one to five babies in a litter.  Their primary food is nuts and seeds and they are strictly diurnal, which means they are not active at night.   One of their favored foods includes the acorns, which are quite common in the Park from the various oak trees.  Typical squirrel behavior is to store a cache of nuts and acorns in a tree hollow or stump for later feeding.  Though squirrels may approach you, do not approach them and do not feed them.  Human diets are extremely different than a squirrels diet and our food can cause significant problems to squirrels, including death.

Though they are not a threatened species grey squirrels have declined in recent years due to urbanizations, loss of habitat and catastrophic wildfire.  Other problems this species has encountered is disease, which has hindered its numbers.  Species like the fox and other ground dwellers are also out competing the squirrel for food and contributing to its decline. 

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