44 



HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



dry places usually delayed us until too late to continue the hunt. 

 A panther when " jumped " by the hounds usually runs but a 

 short distance, and then climbs a tree, and in such cases may be 

 easily killed by the hunter : but sometimes the panther does not 

 take to a tree, but conceals himself in thick undergrowth, and 

 there it is more difficult to get at him and he is sometimes ugly. 



Panthers will rarely attack a man unless wounded or with cubs, 

 but they will fight the dogs, which have little chance against their 

 teeth and claws. One particular panther which I killed in the spring 

 of 1895 was quite ugly, charging the dogs savagely whenever they 

 approached her. 



Panthers are not uncommon in the wilder portion of the State, 

 both on the east and west coast. The Indians report them numerous 

 in the vicinity of the Big Cypress south of Fort Myers. During the 

 winter of 1895 they were quite numerous near the cypress swamps 

 about Long Hammock and Custard Apple Hammock and south- 

 west of Lake Worth. John Davis killed six in one season. They 

 are scarce now on the peninsula east of the Lidian River, but were 

 common there a few years ago. In 1892 I saw the fresh tracks 

 of a large panther near Canaveral, and back in the " eighdes " 

 Mr. O. A. Qiiarterman killed several in the vicinity of Canaveral, once 

 makincr a double shot at two old males that he discovered hghdng 

 on the bank of Banana Creek. They vary much in size. Florida 

 Panthers which will measure ten feet in length are exceedingly rare, 

 and from what I am told by the hunters and Indians I am inclined 

 to believe that a panther nine feet in length may be considered a big 

 one in Florida. A good-sized male will weigh between one hundred 

 and one hundred and tw^enty-hve pounds, and I have seen full- 

 grown panthers (females) which weighed less than eighty-tive 

 pounds. 



A PANTHER HUNT. 



I WAS awakened before daybreak, and after dressing myself and 

 eating a light breakfast we were in the saddle and well away from 

 camp before it was light enough to follow a trail. The grass and 



