Panthers, for real…

[jdgator]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Panther Recovery Plan, May 2022.

Their stated goal is continue building greenways to connect South Florida with the Panhandle region and with the Okefenokee. They are calling for two additional populations of between 40 - 80 panthers by 2030.

That seems like a fairly optimistic goal to me. I wonder if they are already "helping things along."

 

[Lilly001]

I recall reading that one of the reasons for stopping the import of the Texas stock was that it altered the DNA specifics and threatened a loss of funding.
The cat that was taken in South Georgia a few years back was identified as a Fl Panther through DNA. They thought it was an escaped pet until the DNA report.

 

[kingfish]

Great story. I remember that several years ago a female was injured by a vehicle. They discovered that she had been living under the I-10/I-75 overpass for quite some time. Good news is the panther was rehabbed and relocated. Lots of south Florida videos with panthers showing up on Youtube.

 

[Nicodemus]

I have a trail cam video of a panther in an area called the Ocala National Forest. I guess it was a young bachelor. Probably too far north for a female.

If I get permission I will share the video.

I hunted that area a lot too in the mid 70`s. Locals call it "The Scrubs". It` s one wild place. Full of bears and diamondbacks,

 

[pjciii]

That photo gives me the Willie's . Showing ribs likr that means whatever game tha come across is dinner.
Somebody else said it Stone Cold Killing Machines

 

[The Original Rooster]

I hunted that area a lot too in the mid 70`s. Locals call it "The Scrubs". It` s one wild place. Full of bears and diamondbacks,

Remember that Ol' Walt used to see that they'd see an occasional panther and bear in the Ocala and surrounding area.

 

[Nicodemus]

Remember that Ol' Walt used to see that they'd see an occasional panther and bear in the Ocala and surrounding area.

I do. Both are still there too, but the bear population has literally exploded in that last 20 years.

I`ll tell you a story over the fire one evening.

 

[WOODIE13]

Saw one when I was stationed at Lackland on Medina annex, it was when they had the 100 year flood, think it was 1998, probably displaced by the water. We had 12 attack dogs out and he just strolled on across the field.

Another guy said he saw a female and a cub 2 or 3 times while hunting at a couple different stands, he was thinking it was stalking him.

 

[Lilly001]

I hunted that area a lot too in the mid 70`s. Locals call it "The Scrubs". It` s one wild place. Full of bears and diamondbacks,

I hunted the south end of the forest for 20 years. I sometimes saw more bears than deer.
But I never saw a Panther. I saw Bobcats galore. And rattlesnakes by the basket full.
And I put myself into the thickest stuff I could find and as far away from any roads as possible.
The only area I didn’t hunt a lot was by the St. John’s River. But I did fish it often.

 

[bullgator]

I hope they manage and control them better than the gator repopulation of the 70s and 80s. The Gator numbers have exploded to the point of Nuisance.

 

[Nicodemus]

I hunted the south end of the forest for 20 years. I sometimes saw more bears than deer.
But I never saw a Panther. I saw Bobcats galore. And rattlesnakes by the basket full.
And I put myself into the thickest stuff I could find and as far away from any roads as possible.
The only area I didn’t hunt a lot was by the St. John’s River. But I did fish it often.

I hunted along the Oklawaha, Little Lake George, Lake George, around the bombing range, and let`s not forget ol` 77J. Wild times. We spent one afternoon carrying hounds back to Palatka to get stitched up and broken bones set. We always figured it was a bear, but one hound did get killed. Ironically, what killed it was a bite to the back of the skull. At the time I didn`t think anything of it. Knowing what I know now, it makes me set back and contemplate that day.

 

[Jim Boyd]

That photo gives me the Willie's . Showing ribs likr that means whatever game tha come across is dinner.
Somebody else said it Stone Cold Killing Machines

I might be wildly wrong - but to me, worrying about a panther attack is right up there with worrying about bobcats, snakes and coyotes.

I am sure it can happen but the data says you will get hit by a truck a long time before a panther gets ya.

Or… with any luck we die peacefully in our sleep. While the other 3 people in the car die screaming their fool heads off.

?

 

[Jim Boyd]

They eat deer more regularly than they did historically because of the imbalance to the ecosystem. Historically the mid-sized mammals like raccoons and possums would have made up a good portion of their diet, but the pythons have wiped out the populations of all those mid-sized mammals. That shifted the diet to almost exclusively deer and hogs. The panthers have put a major hurting on the hog population as well. They did contract with UGA specifically to assess the status and mortality factors of the deer population. None of the universities in FL have the experience that UGA has on deer mortality studies.

I have mentioned this before but it is absolutely wonderful to have this sort of authentic feedback.

Well done as always, sir.

 

[Nicodemus]

I might be wildly wrong - but to me, worrying about a panther attack is right up there with worrying about bobcats, snakes and coyotes.

I am sure it can happen but the data says you will get hit by a truck a long time before a panther gets ya.

Or… with any luck we die peacefully in our sleep. While the other 3 people in the car die screaming their fool heads off.

?

I`ve never fund a reliable report of a panther making an unprovoked attack on anybody down in Florida. Bear either. And I`ve spend considerable amount of time doing research on the subject. Before there was such a thing as the internet. After that I still am looking, to no avail.

 

[Nicodemus]

They eat deer more regularly than they did historically because of the imbalance to the ecosystem. Historically the mid-sized mammals like raccoons and possums would have made up a good portion of their diet, but the pythons have wiped out the populations of all those mid-sized mammals. That shifted the diet to almost exclusively deer and hogs. The panthers have put a major hurting on the hog population as well. They did contract with UGA specifically to assess the status and mortality factors of the deer population. None of the universities in FL have the experience that UGA has on deer mortality studies.

Terry Kile said that the main diet of the Florida test lions was armadillos. I can believe it because during that time we had an overabundance of dillers around here.

 

[Lilly001]

I hunted along the Oklawaha, Little Lake George, Lake George, around the bombing range, and let`s not forget ol` 77J. Wild times. We spent one afternoon carrying hounds back to Palatka to get stitched up and broken bones set. We always figured it was a bear, but one hound did get killed. Ironically, what killed it was a bite to the back of the skull. At the time I didn`t think anything of it. Knowing what I know now, it makes me set back and contemplate that day.

Our camp was a Farleys prairie just east of the bombing range.
My youngest sister lives at Hog Island (a real post office) on the Oklawaha.
Beautiful area.

 

[Nicodemus]

Our camp was a Farleys prairie just east of the bombing range.
My youngest sister lives at Hog Island (a real post office) on the Oklawaha.
Beautiful area.

You talking about Hog Valley?

 

[Throwback]

Are they jet black colored??

 

[Lilly001]

You talking about Hog Valley?

That’s probably it.
It’s up near the north end we’re the river flows into that lake they built for the defunct barge canal.

 

[SRShunter]

I saw one in 1976 in the 9 Mile Swamp in Putnam County Florida. Actually saw it twice a couple of days apart. I was bowhunting. Cat never saw me.

Highway 20 my home sweet home Putnam county. I wasn't even born yet then lol