The Catamount is the huge and very terrifying descendant of the Mountain Lion. There has been some speculation that there were some experiments with genetic manipulation before the war in the area around North Carolina due to a large amount of super-sized animals and chimaera-like beasts that inhabit the Piedmont Wasteland.
Description[]
The Mountain Lions of North Carolina have been supersized and the full-grown males are 10 feet long and 3 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder that weighs on average around 750 pounds, the females typically grow to 8 feet long and 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh around 550 pounds. They mainly have kept the tawny coats of their ancestors but some have been known to sport red or silver-grey fur. There have been some stories of Catamounts that are pure black but these are mostly rumours, whose validity are often questioned as they also state that black Catamounts have supernatural abilities.
Behaviour[]
Catamounts are solitary creatures with the females and males only coming together for about a week to mate, and after the week is up the female is quick to let the male know he is no longer welcomed. They are also fiercely territorial as the big males make sure to keep other male Catamounts and large predators away from their territory, with the biggest males having a territorial range that encompasses 7-8 female territory ranges. The Catamounts are ambush predators, utilizing whatever cover is available to them to sneak up on their prey and jump on their back and break their necks with their huge jaws.
Diet[]
Catamounts are not picky eaters and have been known to eat everything from bloatflies, squirrels and Iguanas to Brahmins, rad stags, and Yao Gaui. The Catamounts also go out of their way to kill the young of Death Claws, in order to make sure the creatures don't take over their territory. The Catamounts also seem to have lost the instinctual fear of humanity that their ancestors had and some populations of Catamounts have humans as being a part of their staple diet, especially if they are located near the urban centres with less large wildlife and more humans.
Offensive Capabilities[]
The Catamounts have quite an impressive arsenal for killing, the most feared being their 4 inch long canines, which are used most often to deliver a quick debilitating bite to the back of the neck. Their claws are quite deadly as well as they can cut through the hides of green-hides with ease, and many an unlucky adventurer has been gutted by a swipe of a Catamount's claws.
Defensive Capabilities[]
The Catamounts most important defensive ability is their ability to sneak away and disappear at a moments notice. However one should still be cautious if a Catamount slinks away from a fight after being wounded, many times they are just looking for a way to sneak around their opponent and attack them from behind.