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Posted by Alex Harper on 17:34:56 06/26/07
Took a friend out to Everglades National Park Friday night to show him some birds, reptiles, mammals, and the landscape. It was his first time being out there, and was intrigued by everything there was to see. Besides a bunch of snakes and frogs, there were not many birds to see after dark. Four Barred Owls, Chuck-will's-Widow, and Common Nighthawks were the only birds seen, and both night-herons were heard.
The highlight of the night, if not my experience as a young amateur naturalist, was a sighting of a panther! At about 10:45 at the Royal Palm turnoff we came across the cat that was in the process of crossing the road. We watched it as it then sat in front of the car, looked around, and walked into the grass. It was still visible in the grass and then walked off. I don't think I've seen anything nearly as majestic and demanding of respect as that animal. We both felt very graced after the sighting, especially my friend who knew they were rare but not on the verge of extinction. I am not sure if this was a Florida Panther or one of the introduced panthers of the western subspecies.
The snakes seen, as I know there are some herp lovers on the forum:
Florida Banded Water Snake
Florida Green Water Snake
Penninsula Ribbon Snake- 6
Florida Brown Snake
Scarlet Snake
Florida Cottonmouth- 2
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