So after 25 plus years of driving through the Everglades at 0 dark 30 - I had my fist Panther sighting on the side of HWY 29 as we were headed to Everglades City! It was also a first for my fishing buddy.
Who else has seen one?
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Same place for me, between I75 and Tamiami Tr. Have seen bears there too.
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Seeing rare wildlife like that is always a special treat.
I fished with Capt. Bruce Hitchcock last spring for an upcoming TIDE article. He has been guiding in the park for nearly 40 years. He said he saw a panther one time in the backcountry mangroves during the day. It stalked and killed a heron before disappearing with lunch.
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My wife the retired vet tech and her colleague used to say cats were balls of razor blades. 
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They are, but the big cats are so rewarding to work with also.
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Loooooong time ago in HS, I saw one on the shoulder of the Alley riding west from FTL to Naples. It was magnificient, top life moment still and lessened the sting of a night that otherwise makes what Griffin Dunne experienced in “After Hours” seem like an I won the Lotto party.
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Very cool! Never seen one, but I’m always on the lookout!
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Haven’t seen one in the USA, I have seen plenty in the jungles of Bolivia where I grew up.
This morning in our Airbnb by the north side of the smokies, I went out to arrange the back of the truck and a black bear was trying to break into the trash! That’s the closest I’ve been to a wild bear with nothing between him and I.
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Amazing. Been looking in that stretch of 29 really hard for the last 15 years. Hope to see one at some point.
I fish on average two days a week driving to Flamingo or Chuckoluski and always keep my eyes open for any kind of wildlife. Last year we came across a coyote on the entrance road to Flamingo and on another trip a black bear on 29 heading towards Chuckoluski. Seeing the panther was absolutely amazing!
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There’s a bunch of those cats on the signage along there. lol. There’s so much dang traffic on that stretch north of the Alley, I hope they stay far away from there.
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Seen two on 29 around Copeland while going to fish the trail and Chok
Not a panther but on one of our camping trips in the 10 k islands one time my dad and me watched a bobcat swim between islands really cool wish I would have taken a picture
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I guess I’m pretty lucky. My wife and I saw one 10 years ago on an off-road’s in Everglades national Park.
About five years ago when Hunting big Cypress, I saw a mother and her cub 30 yards from me while in a tree stand.
And then the next day I saw a mother and two cub about 200 yards away when I was in my tree stand
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I woulda thought you had seen them around your homestead Jimmy.
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Saw a big brown animal with a 3-4 foot tail run across a two lane road, in two bounds, at daybreak. This was late 90s on Talbot Island. I relived that vision and am convinced it was a panther.
A few months later, I asked the warden if they have had any sightings and he said they had but he had never seen one.
This was 30 yrs ago- can’t prove it… but I was convinced then and still believe now.
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3 big dogs nothing comes around my place.
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That was just me after a bender. Apologies if I startled you
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Oh wow! Glad to hear that they are around. They are still endangered, correct? My brother and I saw a panther in the late 80s while riding our 4 wheelers along the little Wekiva before Alaqua was there. It’s a shame how much we’ve populated and taken away.
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