#173 The Mysterious Black Panther Book

I've learned that hunters and others might see a Texas mountain lion in North-Central Florida because about ten were captured by the jaguar and puma hunter Roy McBride from Texas and his carefully bred pack of cat hounds. These mountain lions were released by game biologist Chris Beldin of the Florida Game (now Fish and Wildlife) Commission in the Osceola Forest area. Some say that so many mountain lions were killed by hunters and landowners that it is true that Roy McBride and his cat hounds recovered all the survivors who were returned to Texas. What happened to them then in Texas? Other people say the mountain lion still roams Florida.
A panther can only be killed legally in Florida in defense of others or self. It has not been lawful to hunt the big cat since the sixties. If you have to kill a panther and report it to government officials, you will probably be interrogated by both state and federal government officials. Your questioning probably will be intimidating. Even if you clearly killed the panther for the protection of another human or yourself, you may be charged simply for its supposed deterrent effect on others. As one who believes in the sanctity of the individual, I abhor the idea of being cruel to any one person simply as a deterrent for others. You should not use individuals that way, but government, the enemy of individualism, does. The end does not justify the means, but government is full of ambitious, little princes. If you do kill a panther and decide to report it, I'd get an attorney first.
Panthers adjust easily to hunters and even their dogs, unless they are cat hounds. David Maehr documented this in his book, "The Florida Panther." The Florida panther has not been hunted legally for over forty years, and it shows in many of the sightings I have received. Many times they appear to be less fearful than deer.
I've noticed that the deer in Florida are generally far more wary than the deer in Virginia and attribute that to night hunting. The deer population appears to be exploding in Florida. I am seeing far more dead deer on the sides of roads than I did when I came here in 1997. I came here in June and did not see a live deer until New Year's Eve. Now I occasionally see deer when driving at night and sometimes see them during the day.