redneck_billcollector
Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I read that same article. Lets hope those Cougars and Pythons don't eventually move northward into Ga some day.
I happen to be one person who wants panthers here.
I read that same article. Lets hope those Cougars and Pythons don't eventually move northward into Ga some day.
In the 70's South Florida had one of the largest deer herds in the nation. The everglades were busting at the seems with deer. During hunting season they would have refrigerated tractor trailers to hang all the deer in and opening week looked like Ft.Lauderdale beach on spring break. Fulltracks would come in with bucks piled high..the most I remember seeing on one buggy from one hunt was 14 bucks. It was nothing to see herds of deer. I remember one day having a herd of over 70 does walk by my stand but those days are long gone. Water Management and the Army corps came and flooded them out and lots of deer drowned or got hoof rot and just laid down and starved. If you're interested you can look up some interesting videos from the airboat club on youtube..search OPERATION DEER SAVE also if you have facebook look up the gladesman cypress page and look through the hay day albums there...
I have read numerous stories about deer hunting in the glades during that time. My understanding was that the panther population in the late 60s was about what it was now, if not actually a little higher. So logic would tell you it is not the panthers that are suppressing the deer population now. My understanding was that there was no where near the water in the glades that there is now even with all the problems about not enough water now. I would also imagine the invasive plants which are out competing the native plants in a lot of areas would have something to do with the lower deer populations now. Predators alone, if they are native to the area, will seldom suppress the prey population below the ideal carrying capacity of an area. I take a holistic approach to wild spaces...they are not truly wild unless the apex predators are present.
The Florida Panther is no more.. These cats were brought in from Texas and are decimating our wildlife. Its a fact. Look it up for yourselves. We went from having a hog problem to none.You could ride Dinner Island Ranch without getting out of your truck and see over 100 deer and 200-300 hogs just 3 years ago, this hunting season 1 hog was killed. Everyone around here will tell you the same. I was on a lease that was the same way..once littered in hogs and in the 5 years there are none. Now the deer populations are going to the toilet. There are way more of these cats roaming our woods than the state will admit.
I have read numerous stories about deer hunting in the glades during that time. My understanding was that the panther population in the late 60s was about what it was now, if not actually a little higher. So logic would tell you it is not the panthers that are suppressing the deer population now. My understanding was that there was no where near the water in the glades that there is now even with all the problems about not enough water now. I would also imagine the invasive plants which are out competing the native plants in a lot of areas would have something to do with the lower deer populations now. Predators alone, if they are native to the area, will seldom suppress the prey population below the ideal carrying capacity of an area. I take a holistic approach to wild spaces...they are not truly wild unless the apex predators are present.
Check this out. Here's a link to the harvest report for the last 10 years at Dinner Island Ranch wma. Keep in mind this place is quota hunt only and only issue 40 permits per hunt. Hogs seem to have just disappeared.
http://myfwc.com/hunting/harvest-reports/by-season-years/
I wonder why there are still plenty of deer and hogs in Texas, then?
The deer population was artificially high in the area in the 60s and 70s...in the videos you posted the gentleman was talking about how they had to transplant hogs to the Everglades. Plus, and this is a big one, there were more cats in the Everglades when the deer population was rising. It is never correct to blame a population crash of one prey species that is native to the area. There are a multiple of reasons for the deer crash, more water, less space, invasive plants and apparently invasive species. Quiet frankly the transplanting of wild hogs in the 50s or when ever it was would have helped hurt the deer population. Hogs out compete deer.The deer numbers across all of South Florida are way down. Dinner Island has the most deer acre for acre out of any of our wma's but it won't be that way for long. Since you looked at the harvest record you probably noticed many years with hog harvest in the hundreds as high as almost 500 and now this year just 1. From hundreds to 1. They didn't just pack up and leave that's for sure. The deer harvest numbers for the big cypress have plummeted and is the reason for UGA's current deer predation study. They collared 100 deer and in the first month or so 38 were killed and 36 were confirmed panther kills..the other 2 were bobcats.
Yep, and there are more predators down in that swamp than just cats. Gators and pythons eat their fair share I'm sure.The deer population was artificially high in the area in the 60s and 70s...in the videos you posted the gentleman was talking about how they had to transplant hogs to the Everglades. Plus, and this is a big one, there were more cats in the Everglades when the deer population was rising. It is never correct to blame a population crash of one prey species that is native to the area. There are a multiple of reasons for the deer crash, more water, less space, invasive plants and apparently invasive species. Quiet frankly the transplanting of wild hogs in the 50s or when ever it was would have helped hurt the deer population. Hogs out compete deer.
The deer population was artificially high in the area in the 60s and 70s