I meant to put this into my journal first but will talk about it today. I made one of my cameo appearances at Sunday School several months ago and was told by Jim Pettigrew, the co-Sunday School teacher and a pharmacist, that he had been on I-75 where it goes by San Felasco Preserve and saw a tan panther dead on the side of the road. Jim was certain he was a panther because of his long tail. He called state fish and game and was told the same old cracker talk- there were no panthers in this area. Jim said that when he went back about two hours later, the panther was gone. This happened about two weeks before he told me.
I received a similar report only much sooner years ago and immediately went onto I-75 looking for him. In the location described, I found a fresh road kill - a big coyote. Also over the years, I have acquired the sighting of one black Florida panther seen live in San Felasco. Our old vet Gene Stein told me of running in San Felasco and one evening he was particularly late. He heard a panther scream and set a new personal record running back to his car. I have also received reports of people seeing black jaguarundi in the preserve. One man told me that after his wife and he had seen one, they talked to an old friend who was a ranger at San Felasco. He said he had seen them too. Please call me with your black panther sightings. Thanks. Peter Nickerson, MS, MSW at 352-359-0850.
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I live on Millhopper Road in Spring Forest. I saw a young panther in my yard yesterday (7/22/10). It was brown with dark splotches and stripes on it's long tail and was the size of a large dog. There was a deer in the yard at the same time and the panther screamed at her. She bolted and ran. I have heard of panthers in this area but have never seen one before. I got a very good look at it as it was only 40 feet away from my windows.
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