I have been at Corkscrew for 4 months now, can time please slow down?
Before I got to Corkscrew I knew that my top goal was to see a panther with my own eyes. It has been a dream of mine since I went "Panther Tracking" at Big Cypress during a middle school field trip. Since I have been here I have heard of the Panther sightings that staff and past interns have had, and knew that there was a chance I could get lucky. Hayden and Shelby were able to see a Panther while out in the field which made me want to see one even more.
I am not going to lie, I did pray to the Panther gods multiple times, and asked them to bless me with a Panther sighting. I thought I was being a bit silly when I would scream to the sky and ask to see a panther, but I guess the panther gods granted my wish. Lee and I were able to see an endangered Florida Panther chasing deer one afternoon. This is how it went down:
Lee (research tech) and I were practicing getting to know the camera settings on the Canon camera we use for wood stork flights. On the afternoon of May 15th 2018 we went out for a drive in the back country. I drove while Lee was taking photos from the passenger window, we were trying to get motion shots of wildlife while I made the drive as bumpy as possible. For the first 5 minutes of the drive there was nothing but trees.
There was a huge storm rolling in which we were worried about getting caught in. Originally we thought we might see a couple deer and hogs since that is what we usually see back there, however, we were definitely in for a surprise.
About 10 minutes into the drive as I drove I saw two deer to our right. I stopped the car and told Lee to take photos of the deer since they usually run away and that would give him some motion shots. Here is a close up of one of the deer:
We watched the deer from our vehicle for about 2 minutes just waiting to see what they would do. The whole time the deer were fixated on us, probably wondering why we were staring at them, and trying to figure out if we were a threat. The two deer were next to each other the whole time since we got there. However, after 2 minutes the deer to the right was spooked by something, and ran to the right where it is in the photo above. We just assumed we had spooked it somehow from the car. In an instant I saw something right behind the deer to the left where the palm frond is next to the deer's backside. I was thinking it was a fawn at first that we had not seen before because it looked shorter, and smaller than the deer. All of a sudden both deer make a run for it with a long tan figure with a long tail that was sticking up in the air running after them. It was a Florida Panther.
When I saw the tail I immediately knew that it was a Panther, and I could not believe what I was seeing. I yelled "PANTHER" to Lee and urged him to take photos. My jaw was open, and I was trying so hard not to scream.
After talking to staff that are more knowledgeable on the Corkscrew Panthers we believe this is one of the female panthers that roam the sanctuary. Lee and I were shocked for several minutes, and remained in the area just in case it would reappear. After this crazy encounter we continued to drive and were surprised by the high amount of wildlife we saw. This led us to believe that this incoming storm was causing the high amount of wildlife somehow.
We saw the following wildlife:
It was a thrilling afternoon with high wildlife activity. I feel very lucky to not only have seen a panther, but to see one stalking, and attacking a deer. The coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. I wonder if I will see another one before I leave CSS.
Until next time,
Intern Melissa
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