Female mountain lions will scream to attract a mate, and males will do it as well.

This YouTube video and this one both have audio of what it sounds like.

Given how loud it sounds, would there be any way of estimating how far away the mountain lion is?

  • Now that you have a rough estimate of how far away the mountain lion is, the next question has to be how fast can she cover that distance to get to the ultra-fresh cat food that is you. – ab2 Jan 7 '17 at 3:02

There does not seem to be much information over the net on the distance one can hear a mountain lion, but I did find this little tidbit:

The frightening puma scream is the long range call. It has been described as like a high pitched and short roar of one of the big cats.

Then there is the shrill whistle like call. This call has been used by a tame puma after she received a bit of food after the person called her over. The person described the sound as a high pitched, cheeping, whistle. It can travel a good distance (300 yards).

The same whistle call has been heard by researchers in the mountains of New Mexico between members of a family group and up to 300 meters from each other. The whistle would seem to vary between pumas. Mountain lion sounds are varied and some others are that have been heard between males and females are: a low gargling growl, throaty yowls and squeaks. The squeaks and growls traveled about 50-100 metres while the yowls traveled 200 meters. - Mountain Lion Sounds

Mountain Lion

NOTE – Cougars (also called pumas, mountain lions, catamounts, Florida panthers, painters, ghost cats, etc) are considered part of the lesser/small cat classification when it comes to their ability to purr and not roar. - Do big cats roar or purr - or both?

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