Florida Panthers

[Rick]

Batch (and anyone else in Florida) - I ran across this recent article on National Geographic that I thought you might like. I thought the Easy Guide to Tracks was pretty good too. Based on your posts I would guess that their range is slightly larger than the article indicates.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic....ed-in-florida/

[Batch]

Thanks, they have the one on Panther net that was shot in Troup county, Ga in 2008. That is quite a bit north of SW Florida.

They released a male from a pair of brother and sisters in SE Florida a little ways from my house. Its mom had been struck on 29 and killed and the kittens were found near by. They released it there because they have collared several females in the area and hoped to help establish a breeding population.

That is in Holy Lands and they don't tag panthers there. The only place I am aware that they actually actively bay panthers and collar them is Big Cypress and the Panther Conservation area. So the panthers in the rest of the state don't get counted at all.

[Batch]

They also have car hit panthers in Osceola and Orange counties. I hunt Three Lakes and Bull Creek in Osceola County and that is a good ways up on the east coast well into central Florida. I am actually on my way to Orange County now. Where they have giant mice, with Goofy friends and sailing ducks.

Orange County was once huge and included the area of Osceola county. Back before Florida became a state it was called Mosquito County. Lol Back then only wreckers and sponge divers lived in South Florida.

[Highhawk1948]

Good track guide. We have some really large swamps that are ideal habitat here in the State. When working the Everglades I only found tracks. Finally saw one in Central Florida, what a surprise too. Thanks for the website.

[Batch]

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If you look at the map of confirmed sightings and deaths, you'll see that the confirmed sightings are pretty much confined to S Florida. But, the list dead panthers in east central Fl that aren't listed as confirmed sightings. Lol

They have video of them releasing cats in other areas.on the FWC site. There is video of a panther taken on a floodgate or switchback in Dade county and its all over the news here. But, video taken with a SFWMD camera isn't confirmed?

It's just plain stupid the way they do it. It's all about the money.

HIGHHAWK, where abouts did you work in the glades and when? They have really exploded in the last decade or so. It wasn't that long ago you were tripping over wild hogs to kill a deer in the cypress. Now, you don't even see sign.

[Rick]

I have to guess that the unconfirmed sighting out in the Gulf and the one in the Atlantic involved alcohol. Just a guess though.

[Highhawk1948]

I was stationed at Florida City Fire Tower and was in charge of wildland fires in Dade and Monroe Counties, expect Park land. Years from 1978 thru 1980. Couldn't handle the social climate and transfered as soon as I could.

[your_comforting_company]

They're up in south GA also. There was an article in GON (Georgia Outdoor News) last year with photo submissions. I'd say 90% of them were fakes, but there were a few that were pretty convincing, when put up with personal experiences.

[WolfVanZandt]

Hmmmm, yeah, we've had some also.......only they're the western variety.

[Batch]

YCC,

Last year a guy plead guilty to unlawfully killing a Florida Panther. The cat was not collared and so did not exist in any counts. They DNA linked it offspring of a collared cat in the Okaloacoochee Slough.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/...orida-panther/

I post pictures from Dinner Island (21,667 acres), which connects directly to the OK Slough (34,722 acres). The Ok Slough connects to Spirit of the Wild (7,487 acres). This makes a good chunk of woods. That cat walked from the OK Slough all the way to Georgia. Which means a panther can walk anywhere in the state.

[Batch]

Here is the video of a panther taken with a South Florida Water Management District camera. Distributed by SFWMD in all the way down in Homestead. Yet, it isn't a confirmed sighting? Because it doesn't have a collar it doesn't exist. LOL



The numbers stay down and the funding stays up.

[Batch]

The released a male who with his sister was rescued a couple of years ago. His sister was released in SW Florida, because she is a female and will not likely be killed by territorial males. she was released in January and has already given birth.

He was released on the Broward and Palm Beach line in an area that they know has fewer male panthers and so might prevent this guy from running into another male before he gets his bearings and claims his own territory. They said he had a good chance of siring several litters a year.

How, if there are no female panthers there?

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/04/03...-in-captivity/

Today the male was set free at the Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area along the borders of Palm Beach and Broward counties. The area was picked out because there are few adult males who have marked the territory there.

So, the FWC says that there are only a few male panthers that have staked out a territory and that means that the young panther has a good chance of successful fathering some litters in the area?

Yet even a collared and released panther has no confirmed status in the area? Huh?

Here is some video of the timid beasts taken by hunters out scouting. This is Big Cypress and is prime cat territory. Please not that of the 100 to 160 cats reported to exist. All are collared. Please also take note that these cats are in the area where they bay the cats every year to collar them.

[crashdive123]

I can see that they are timid. They look absolutely terrified of the camera operator.

[WolfVanZandt]

Heh. They just happened to pick up a couple of hams. "Hey look Jolette. We're on camera!." "Stop posing, Fred. They're not impressed." "Then why are they taking movies? I'm a staaaar."

Actually, a few years back, i had heard that Florida panthers were extinct. I'm glad to hear that reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated. They were pretty much wiped out in Alabama, which is why the much more aggressive Western panthers are beginning to be drawn into the vacuum.

[Rick]

It's the old stare, stare, blink game.

[Canoetripper]

that will make you leave your tree stand well before dark!!
prob. looking over your shoulder the whole way back
to the truck.

[JPGreco]

If you see a florida panther with a hockey stick, don't worry, they're not very dangerous.

[crashdive123]

If you see a florida panther with a hockey stick, don't worry, they're not very dangerous.

Ranger or Islander fan?

[JPGreco]

Actually, I'm a Devils fan. Mom is an Islanders fan, Dad is a Rangers Fan, and my younger brother is a Bruins fan. How that worked out I'm not really sure, but makes for fun times for playoffs. Though I haven't really followed hockey very closely the last few seasons, I'm much more of a soccer fan and the English season just started and my team is at the top of the table right now; Liverpool YNWA!!!!

[Ken]

Actually, I'm a Devils fan. Mom is an Islanders fan, Dad is a Rangers Fan, and my younger brother is a Bruins fan. How that worked out I'm not really sure, but makes for fun times for playoffs. Though I haven't really followed hockey very closely the last few seasons, I'm much more of a soccer fan and the English season just started and my team is at the top of the table right now; Liverpool YNWA!!!!

Your younger brother is a genius!