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Visitors and residents can catch sight of the Florida Panther

Big Purrs from the Everglades

 

Calling all adventurers and animal lovers, we have an Everglades Adventure Tour ready and waiting for you! Come hang with us for a day and we’ll show and teach you about a part of Florida you’ll never forget– The Everglades!

 

One of our most treasured inhabitants of the Everglades is the Florida panther, a BIG kitty that is a subspecies of the cougar. Florida panthers have dwindled dramatically from being scattered throughout several southern states to living primarily in and around the Florida Everglades and Big Cypress Preserve. Named an endangered species in 1967 when they receded to merely a couple dozen, now there are approximately 80-100 of these solitary felines left. Serious efforts from animal and environmental activists has resulted in their slow re-population, but there is still work to be done for their safety and continued population growth. Let us teach you what we know, our tour guides are ready to go!

 

Remarkable in every way, Florida panthers maintain a home range of 70-80 square miles (for the females), and up to 275 square miles (for the males). They will travel up to 20 miles a day, primarily during the evening’s cooler temperatures. These majestic cats can swim across large bodies of water and host a very keen sense of smell, as well as 130 degree field of vision. One ought not try to outrun these stealthy creatures, as they can move up to 35 MPH, although they do not typically run that fast for more than a few hundred yards.

 

On our Everglades excursions, we provide our guests the opportunity to catch sight of the Florida panthers. June is a prime time to catch a glimpse of this elusive feline as, as females prepare to give birth to their litters. Our pinelands, hardwood hammocks and swamp forests are their ideal habitat– so let’s set out to catch sight of the Florida panther as they nap in the afternoon shade or come across one indulging in a late afternoon alligator snack (wouldn’t that be something, to catch a panther tangling with an alligator!) The residents of the Everglades see them pretty often they say, but for those of us that only visit, maybe once a year!

 

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