Are you serious??? You really believe a mountain lion can grow 9 feet and longer in body length??? Have you ever seen 1? That is from nose tip to butt .. 9 feet and longer ... well there are exactly 2 cats that can attain the lengths you descibe.

Tigers ..... and African lions. 9 1/2 feet would be the top end for the lion, and would weigh approx 500 lbs at that size.

We can agree to disagree then, but they do factor tail length when measuring American mountain lions .. and the tails of cougars ARE 1/3 of that total length.

But if I am wrong .. and we have suddenly started growing lions out west that are 9 and half feet long in body length alone ... well I' m glad I moved back east a few years back, because a cat that size could take out just about anything, including grizzlies!