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2/23/2007
There have been a number of reported
sightings at the (Robins Air Force) Base, however, no photos or casts
of footprints. These animals are very secretive and shy. There is
enough undeveloped land in the floodplain to support a panther. Lots of
people claim to see black panthers, but the Florida panther is a
sub-species of cougar (aka mountain lion) and is not black. It is not
in the same family as the “black” panther. This animal is actually a
spotted cat with a gene for blacker fur.
Susan Hanberry-Martin
2/23/2007
A note from Karen Hunt between Hawkinsville and Pineview, GA.
Last spring my husband and I saw a panther at the back of our property
(in high grass at the edge of a tall pine tree forest). We called our
extension agent, Ronnie Barrentine, and he said it is possible but that
the State of Georgia claims panthers don’t live in our state. Our
location is off of Blue Springs Road near Bluff Creek in Pulaski County
Karen Hunt
2/23/2007
(From Lisa) Oh yes, I'll add my two cents to this. I grew up in Dodge
County (Eastman). For many weeks we had a panther living in the woods
behind our property. This one stayed at a nearby pond. Several men, who
went out looking for the panther, did catch glimpses of it. I do
remember hearing it "scream" during the night. Marty says that he saw
one in Thomas County where he grew up.
Lisa Willett
2/23/2007
I have always been impressed with how adaptable cougars are. I have
seen them in the jungles of Central and South America where I do much
of my research and I have seen them in the foothills on the outskirts
of Los Angeles. Now that deer have come back in such numbers in Georgia
it is not surprising to find that cougars are being seen. Certainly the
forested areas of Georgia are much better habitat for even the
adaptable cougar than the soggy wetlands of the Everglades and Big
Cypress.
Ron Carroll
2/23/2007
At DNR, we get several "panther" reports every year from all over the
state involving animals that are both black and brown in color. I
strongly suspect that almost all of these reports are cases of mistaken
identity involving house cats, bobcats, dogs, coyotes, otters, and maybe
bears. Many say the animal appeared to be a young panther because if
wasn't very big, but did appear to be larger than a house cat. The few
photos and videos that have been submitted to this office clearly show
bobcats and black house cats. I even heard of a DNR officer who went to
retrieve a dead black panther. He took the animal back to his office,
fully believing it to be a panther. It, too, was a large house cat.
I'm convinced that our native population of Florida panthers disappeared
from the state decades ago, and that if a remnant population had
survived, there would be a string of evidence including shot and
road-killed specimens. I think most people take it for granted that
there are panthers on our landscape because they have always heard
stories of panther sightings. Therefore, casual reports are widely
accepted without verification, and unfamiliar sights and sounds are
readily attributed to the presence of panthers.
On the other hand, I believe some of the reports are actually of
cougars that have escaped from captivity. There are a number of cougars
held in Georgia under permits, and who knows what is held without a
permit? I recall 2 cats that were confiscated in Athens a few years
ago. A landlord went to collect overdue rent and heard some horrifying
growling inside the house. Officials broke in and found 2 jaguars, one
spotted and one black. These could have easily escaped or been
released.
So, my approach to panther reports is best described as open-minded
skepticism. I think some reports are highly credible and undeniable, but
are not of native panthers. With all the trail cameras now in use maybe
we will see some evidence soon.
Ivory-billed woodpeckers are also reported statewide, and though I'm
naturally skeptical of these as well, I haven't completely given up hope
that maybe one of these will pan out in appropriate habitat.
Jim Ozier
2/23/2007
Whenwe first moved to our farm in Wayne
County (Odum)we saw a panther in our front yard at around 8pm one
night. The Little Satilla Creek floodplain runs along the entire back
half of my property. We had grilled salmon earlier that night and the
dogs started raising a ruckus on the front porch. We went to the front
door and saw a panther attempting to jump up on top of our pump house.
It ran as soon as it saw us at the door. The next morning we found its
tracks in fire ant mounds and soft dirt in the front yard. I have heard
stories for years from hunters and fishers about panthers along the
Satilla River, in the Okeefenokee Swamp, and in the mountains of north
Georgia, some brown and some black. I just assumed there were some left
scattered around. The Ocmulgee would be a perfect place for them to
find relative isolation, as are the Satilla, Okeefenokee and other
isolated floodplains. Another very good reason to protect them.
Phyllis Bowen
2/23/2007
We own about 200 acres of swampland just a half a mile east of 247 with
Rocky & Tobesofkee Creeks running through it.
There are cat tracks in this area. The track is only about 3-4 inches
in diameter so I attributed it to a large house cat or a small bob cat-
not a panther.
Bob Hargrove
2/23/2007
According to the Florida Wildlife Commission:
The typical panther track is the imprint of four unclawed toes around a
3-lobed
heel pad. The front feet are slightly wider than the hind feet, and
tracks of the
male are larger than those of the female. Male tracks of the front feet
are 5-6
cm wide (approx. 2-2.3 inches) and female tracks are 4-5 cm wide
(approx.
1.6-2.0 inches).
Also see the Kansas State Extension Service website:
which has a handy comparison of bobcat (2") and panther (3"+) pawprint
info.
If you have domestic cats with paws that size, I'd like to know what
you are
feeding them!
And, yes, I have a panther story, too. My aunt who lives at Bullard in
Twiggs
County saw two adult panthers sauntering across the road just west of
the
Beech Springs Methodist Church between Bullard and Jeffersonville.
There's a
small creek where they were crossing and they were completely
unperturbed by
her car. This occurred about 20 years ago.
We didn't know how many black bears there were in the Ocmulgee
bottomlands
until the project to radio-tag them. Maybe we need a project similar to
the ones
that have been used to prove the presence of lynx elsewhere.
Dorinda Dallmyer
Despite hundreds of puma sightings reported each year to
organizations such as the Eastern Puma Research Network, many wildlife
officials "vehemently deny or refuse to acknowledge panther sightings
north of Florida and east of the Rockies, even ones with documented
evidence."
John Lutz, Director, Eastern Puma Research Network
Despite numerous sightings over the years, only a
dozen were accompanied by sufficient field evidence to be confirmed by
biologists. To confirm a sighting, evidence in the form of a live or
dead animal, body part(s), scat, hair samples, tracks preserved in
plaster, or video/photos is needed. While proof exists that pumas still
survive in the east, the challenge is to prove they are reproducing in
the wild. Until a confirmed sighting of a cub occurs, officials will
continue to deny there are reproducing populations of pumas in the
eastern U.S. Rather, they will claim the sightings are more likely to
be of escaped or released captives.
Elijay Wildlife Rehab Santuary
Sat, Jan. 27, 2007
‘Life-changing event’: Panther chases forester
A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga River by a
7-foot-long panther with “jet black” fur. Terrance Fletcher, a
technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into the frigid water and
crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape.
In March of 2004, I was on
Hwy 196 in Long County, between Hinesville and Glennville,around 10:30
p.m., when I saw a huge, black, cat crouched down near the side of the
road. I had heard stories that the cats were out there but never really
believed it until I saw one with my own eyes. I am fascinated with them
and would love to see another one. I would like to see them and their
natural habitat protected. I read in the Ludowici, Ga. News of one
being sighted in the same area that I saw that one. I believe there are
some still out there, regardless of what the scientists say.
Debbie
Hardenbrook
My Mother and Brother live
in Lincolnton, GA,(Lincoln Co.) I guess it was about April of this
year, my brother heard what sounded like a BIG cat in the woods around
the house. My Mom heard it early one morning after that and my bother
saw it crossing the road near the house.
While visiting my bother came into the house and told us that the cat
was back, so I heard it for the first time. It kept calling while going
around the house and across the road. I guessing that it may be a
female in heat calling for a mate. I haven't been outside after dark
much since.
Faye
FLORIDA
PANTHER RECOVERY PLAN
January 1981
Team Members
Robert C. Belden, Leader, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission
Ken C. Alvarez, Florida Department of Natural Resources
Robert E. Baudy, Owner of Rare Feline Breeding Compound
Brian Knowles, U.S. Forest Service
James A. Kushlan, National Park Service
James N. Layne, Archbold Biological Station
Peter C. H. Pritchard, Florida Audubon Society
A Florida Panther Record Clearinghouse consisting of a central
filing system for reports of panthers should be established in each
state within the former range of Florida panthers (Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi) with a central
Clearinghouse in Florida (112-12.).
05-17-2006
For you nature enthusiasts out there I had the experience of a lifetime
this past weekend. We like to find and explore remote rural Florida. We
were on a logging road that runs north of Jasper Florida into Georgia.
When we had just crossed into Georgia (I was running my GPS off my
laptop in the car) we came around a bend in the road and up about 100
yards ahead we saw a big deep reddish brown cat about 42" from nose to
rump with a long tail headed toward us. When he sighted us he ran
across the road and sprang for the bush and was gone. A few years ago
the state attempted to introduce the Florida panther into the nearby
Pinhook swamp, but abandoned the program and withdrew some of the
animals. Apparently the program was more successful than they thought.
Hopefully they should do well on the deer and wild turkeys. We
photographed the numerous clear paw prints and forwarded them to
interested parties. Panthers cover ground-about 20 miles per day and
can range over 200 square miles. Hopefully the panther will thrive in
this area which should remain undeveloped for a long time.
FIELD
EVIDENCE OF COUGARS IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
INTRODUCTION: Native eastern cougars were
believed extirpated throughout the east by the 1940s, but a growing
number of sightings prompted the listing of Felis concolor couguar
on the 1973 Endangered Species List (Bolgiano, 1995). A
field survey in the southern Appalachians by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USF&WS), however, failed to find conclusive evidence of
cougars by the early 1980s, although a small number of possible deer
kills, scrapes, and scats were identified. (Downing, 1981).
Confirmed field evidence began to accumulate in the 1990s.
The presence of at least a few individuals living wild in the east is
now acknowledged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Clark,
2000). Issues of legal status, population viability, habitat
management, and human acceptance are emerging. The Eastern
Cougar Foundation (ECF), a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded by
independent researcher Todd Lester in West Virginia in 1998 to compile
the accumulating evidence, and to grapple with these issues.
CHRIS BOLGIANO, Adjunct Professor, James Madison University,
Harrisonburg, VA 22807; Environmental Author and Vice President,
Eastern Cougar Foundation, Fulks Run, VA 22830
‘Life-changing event’:
Panther chases forester
By SAMMY FRETWELL
Sat, Jan. 27,
2007
A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga
River by a 7-foot-long panther with “jet black” fur.
Terrance Fletcher, a technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into
the frigid water and crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape.
“The animal started running ... so I decided to run and get away and
jump in the river to get across to the other side,” Fletcher said this
week. “It was a life-changing event for me.”
The incident occurred the second week in January along the mountain
river separating Georgia and South Carolina.
Black panthers are not native to the southeastern United States,
meaning Fletcher might have seen a river otter or a bobcat, state
wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina said.
Still, Fletcher and Forest Service District Ranger Dave Jensen said
they think he saw some sort of large cat on the Georgia side of the
river.
“It was a little too big to be a bobcat,” Fletcher said. “My first
impression was a panther.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found no evidence of large
cat tracks in the area where Fletcher said he saw the animal, but the
Georgia DNR’s Kevin Lowrey said it’s possible a black panther was
lurking in the woods.
If so, it was probably an exotic pet that escaped, he said. His agency
regularly receives reports of people seeing cougars, large tawny cats
that were once native to Georgia and South Carolina. Officials say the
creatures are likely escaped pet cougars or other animals, rather than
wild cougars.
“We don’t have a native black cat in the United States,” Lowrey said.
“That just tells me it was something released.”
Lowrey, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia agency, said people
hiking or fishing along the Chattooga River should not be overly
concerned. The river is the only federally designated wild and scenic
river in South Carolina, and it is popular with recreational
enthusiasts.
Lowrey said folks should always be aware of their surroundings when in
the forest.
Fletcher, a 24-year-old Alabama native, said he and another Forest
Service technician were surveying trails on the Georgia side of the
river south of the Burrells Ford bridge when they separated.
While taking a break near the river bank, Fletcher heard rustling in
the woods and looked in that direction. Staring back at him was what
appeared to be a black panther, crouched on the forest floor like a
house cat stalking a bird, he said.
When he stood up, the cat started running, prompting him to take the
icy dip in the Chattooga. Soaked to the skin and freezing, he met up
with his partner and walked through the woods to their Forest Service
truck.
“We just got on out of there,” Fletcher said, adding he remains a bit
spooked by the incident. “I don’t know how long (the feeling) will
last.”
Seen a cougar? Tell about
it . . .
Sat, 03/10/2007 - 3:19pm
By: (Atlanta)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning a review of scientific
and commercial information to determine the status of the endangered
eastern cougar, the first review the Service has done since publishing
a recovery plan in 1982.The Service placed the eastern cougar on the
List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in 1973… (More)
The Mountain Lion was once found throughout the United States in varied
habitats from swamps to prairies, and mountains of the eastern and
western states. Now it is restricted to wilderness areas of the
American West and a remnant population in southern Florida. It is
possible that the Mountain Lion may occur in wilderness areas of the
Blue Ridge mountains (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee &
Virginia) and within the Okefenokee Swamp.
FLORIDA
PANTHER SOCIETY
Summary of Individual Mountain Lion
Movements and Activities
(Lions involved in the Florda Panther Reintroduction Feasibility Study)
Provides detailed information on each of the
19 cats released in North Florida in 1993-95.
(NOTE: T40 was recaptured near Thompson, GA)
Florida
Panther Feasibility Study Conclusions
FLORIDA PANTHER MAY GAIN PROWLING PLACES IN
SOUTHEAST
By David Fleshler Staff Writer
10/20/2002
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability Technical/Agency
Draft of the Third Revision of the
Florida Panther Recovery Plan for
Review and Comment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability
and public comment period.
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