Florida Panthers

If you live in Florida, then you know we have a cat like creature that we hear about, but rarely see. That's because the current population is less than one hundred. You will regularly see on the news or hear about another being killed by a car. The automobile is their biggest threat.

The highway department actually created underpasses to allow them to cross roads and interstate highways, without getting hit, but apparently the cats cannot read, or there are not enough signs to direct them.

Florida panthers are shy and try very hard to avoid people. They do not seem to be dangerous to humans, as there are no documented cases of a Florida panther attacking a person. The chances of you being killed by a panther are far less than your chance of "becoming a victim of lightning or death by bee-sting.

One of my friends sent me the attached picture, that his friend took with a cell phone, while out hunting.

So as you can see , they do exist. I saw one slinking into a large palmetto stand at a golf course recently. It was darker, almost black, but certainly a panther, not a bobcat.  It had a long tail,  but it was probably very muddy, rather than actually that color. I immediately turned the golf cart in its direction, then, realized what I was doing, and thought better of it. I did not want to be on the Panther Net website as the first human getting eaten by a panther.

They are interesting creatures, and seem to be surviving despite our urban sprawl. If you want to donate or learn more about them then visit the following websites.
http://www.floridapanthernet.org/ or,
http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/floridapanther.htm or,
http://www.panthersociety.org/index.html