They ARE awesome!

The hockey team, not so much.

Even the little one better not mess with her! Gorgeous animals

I went to a state park that was known to be a habitat, but no such luck. It really is catching lightning in a bottle with them.

Stopped at a place on Alligator Alley with a boardwalk through the swamp. Nothing special, just s stop over with no name.

As my husband and I started down the boardwalk, a park ranger walked the other way with some people. Maybe 100 feet past them I looked over the edge of the boardwalk, which at that point was about 6-8' above the mud of the swamp with a path for animals underneath. Clear as day was a big panther track - very fresh - in fact a trail of them. We walked on to the end and as we were walking back the ranger came along to see if we had any questions.

We were close to where I had seen the track so I pointed it out to her and asked if that was a panther track. She was shocked - it was! And the surprising thing is she had stopped there to point out tracks to the other people since it was a game trail - and the panther track was not there when they were looking. That panther had to have passed between the time the previous group had looked at the tracks and when I saw the fresh panther track.



In this shot, you can see the post of the boardwalk at the upper left.

I hope they are protected.

One was recently released back into the wild after being nursed back to health for the past year. The news report said there are less than 500 left in the wild. If you see one, you're lucky; and then don't even think of getting a better look. The FWC will be on you like a rash.

during my recent stay in Florida, and that made my day(s).
Loved observing the anhinga hanging out its wings to dry, and the herons just hanging out.

I can see one in the canal behind my house as I type this.

In amid all the weirdness.

And we got jaguarundi.
In our neighborhood.

Of course, if I saw it in my neighborhood, I'd probably want to approach it and pet it. Or at least look for Lost Cat reward signs.

the humidity, heat, bugs, storms, or gators.

Mountain lions who live in the mountains are just lazy.

or their lazy selves might take an interest in my horses. I live next to public land that they are common on; they have been known to wander into town now and then, too.

Lazy is right; they don't have to compete with much for those deer, and never have to deal with gators.

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Great picture!

Florida is awesome and Florida panthers are wonderful. I'd love to see one up close, safely lol

Just kidding!

That's great!

I really enjoyed the time we spent in the Everglades around the Seminole Reservation when we visited.