Life in Panther Country

Southwest Florida residents take action to coexist with native wildlife

Not so long ago, I shared a story about a family in Naples, Florida that we worked with to build a safety pen to protect the family’s goat, Frack, and other family pets and hobby livestock. At that time, our program was just getting off the ground, and we were thrilled to have families who were being proactive in protecting their pets and hobby livestock from local wildlife predators, including Florida panthers, bobcats, coyotes, bears, and feral dogs. Things were quiet here in southwest Florida for a while, but since the beginning of 2015, activity has picked up quite a bit.

Why the sudden burst of activity? There are a couple reasons, and the first is one we really like hearing about: There are more Florida panthers! After much effort to restore the species, the Florida panther population has grown from the brink of extinction in the early 1980s to a more promising number over the last several years. Today, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates the population of this endangered species to be between 100 and 180 adult cats. This is great news for Florida panthers. The not-so-great news for panthers is that with the economic recovery that’s being seen in southwest Florida, real estate development is back with a vengeance. As a result, many of the large real estate parcels that lay vacant and idle for years in rural areas are now hubs of activity, with everything from road widening projects to lots of individual homes being built. Together, all these projects cause fragmentation and loss of habitat, and bring more people and their pets and livestock into previously undeveloped areas. Unprotected goats, sheep, miniature horses, dogs, donkeys, calves, or other domestic animals in rural settings can attract wild predators into backyards. As a result, depredations – incidents where wild animals prey on domesticated animals – have been on the rise.

That’s where we come in. After all, we do work in the western Everglades, home to all sorts of critters, both native and non-native. We take every opportunity we can to spread the word about the measures people can take to keep their pets or livestock safe from local predators. Our safety pen program is a big part of this effort, and through it we can help residents buy and build pens to protect their animals. We visit local libraries, summer camps, schools, community association meetings, and just about everywhere we can get our feet in the door to talk to folks who will listen. Nature festivals, community days, you name it; we’re there wearing a smile and sharing our information.

Recently, we met the Johnston family. They live just outside Naples in the rural interface area subdivision known as Golden Gate Estates. A few days before Halloween, they awoke to discover that a mother panther and two kittens had preyed upon three of their five goats. They quickly reported the loss to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, who in turn contacted us. I visited the family the following day, and arranged to have a pen delivered for them within a week. In the meantime, their two remaining goats and two miniature horses spent their nights in a horse trailer while the family’s llama stood watch. A few days later, the family and I were able to assemble the pen (my third pen for that week – they always seem to come in bunches!) and now the family’s remaining animals have a safe place to spend their nights. The Johnstons were wonderful to work with, and fully understand and appreciate the wildlife around them. We are grateful to have them as ambassadors for our program, and hope that their success with their pen encourages others to be proactive in arranging for pens of their own.

Murray and Nickie Johnston with their young son, 2 goats, 2 miniature horses, and Merlin, the kissing llama.

Southwest Florida is an interesting place to live. Most folks move here thinking about beaches, palm trees, sunshine, fishing, and maybe the Everglades – but they rarely recognize the abundance of wildlife that live here too. On a daily basis, we hear people complain that the wildlife doesn’t belong in “their” neighborhood, even though these species have been here long before most of the humans ever arrived on Florida’s “Paradise Coast.”

Throngs of folks settle here, never imagining that we have panthers, bears, bobcats, coyotes and even non-native pythons that can prey on everything from housecats to goats, chickens, pet donkeys, miniature horses, dogs, and more. Our wildlife isn’t something to be afraid of, but it is something to be aware of when you live here. In the same way you’d carry an umbrella if you live where it rains often, if you live where wild predators are common, you should take simple precautions to keep your domestic animals safe. Through our safety pen program, we’re helping people to do just that – and in the long run, we’re helping to protect Florida panthers as well. By showing people that they can live in panther territory safely, we’re hoping to encourage greater tolerance for Florida’s native wildlife, so that as panthers continue to recover, they can be welcomed back to their historic range in the southeastern U.S.

Here are a few more photos from our safety pen efforts over the last few months: we’ve had a great time meeting new volunteers and making new friends through our efforts to help protect pets, people, property and panthers!
[slideshow_deploy id=’30696′]