[SouthFloridaNative]

Just read at www.news-press.com about a female panther killed by a vehicle Friday early morning on I-75.

[FedUpInFtMyers]

That IS sad. I am always grieved at the harsh consequences of land development everywhere as it subjects our wildlife to such incidents as this one. In a perfect world, land developers and anyone else who cares would make provision for all wildlife and see to it that they have places to live as well. The other issue that grieves me is that oftentimes, these beautiful animals run out on to roads to escape another terrible thing: Fire. I always think of our wildlife when we are experiencing record "drys" such as is the case at present.

[MrTudo]

What a shame. They are such beautiful cats.......

[riverviewnative]

Fedup
Brother you have no idea. When they built the subdivision behind us they bulldozed up the gopher tourties that are supposed to be protected. Piled them all up and then just paid the fine.
We used to have the cutest little gound owls too. Long gone. Wild hogs used to run through there every night.
Since that thing began construction we have had squirrels, possums, a baby skunk, an arridillo, rabbits, turtles, one Bob cat, snakes and some damn rats.
All of these critters tried to live on our acer of land. The rabbits and squirrels are still here. The skunk comes by from time to time.We have a few big trees for the squirrels and I let the grass grow in the back of the yard for the rabbits. I saw a gator run over a while back. The only thing we got rid of was the rats. The rest moved on on their own. To where I have no idea because there is not much left for them.

[SouthFloridaNative]

It sickens me to see natural habitats destroyed and replaced with developments. None of these creatures stand a chance.

[BlueWillowPlate]

There is no getting around the fact that people are moving in where native animals used to dominate. But some land development companies try to do the right thing, even hiring their own naturalists. They are fairly strict about protecting the sea turtles here where we live, but on the other hand, vehicles are allowed on many of the beaches, which is something I will never understand.
Really sad about the panther.

[Floridasunshine]

Last year one tried to cross Interstate 4 in Seffner Dover Area, and got hit and threw onto the campgrounds. It was Female.

[gypsychic]

This stuff makes me sick. I am a HUGE nature lover, which is one reason why I moved to my little agricultural town of Dade City. Unfortunately, the only crops growing here now are HOUSES. You would not believe the ugly mess some lying developers are making out of one of our beautiful hills - they are doing illegal dirt mining (making MILLIONS!) while taking 25 feet off the hill - then putting up ugly-a$$ houses. And unfortunately they aren't the only ones doing this.

Right now, there is still a lot of beautiful pristine land, but almost ALL of it is either for sale, under contract or being built upon - this town lets any developer with a pulse put up anything it seems. To me it is criminal. I see less and less wildlife each year, and I have been here for 10 years now. It just makes me so sad.

People wonder why Florida gets so many hurricanes - well I believe that Mother Nature feels like she needs to CLEANSE HERSELF, and needs a good bath!

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

This stuff makes me sick. I am a HUGE nature lover, which is one reason why I moved to my little agricultural town of Dade City. Unfortunately, the only crops growing here now are HOUSES. You would not believe the ugly mess some lying developers are making out of one of our beautiful hills - they are doing illegal dirt mining (making MILLIONS!) while taking 25 feet off the hill - then putting up ugly-a$$ houses. And unfortunately they aren't the only ones doing this.

Right now, there is still a lot of beautiful pristine land, but almost ALL of it is either for sale, under contract or being built upon - this town lets any developer with a pulse put up anything it seems. To me it is criminal. I see less and less wildlife each year, and I have been here for 10 years now. It just makes me so sad.

People wonder why Florida gets so many hurricanes - well I believe that Mother Nature feels like she needs to CLEANSE HERSELF, and needs a good bath!

I think we need many more hurricanes, and at least one to hit a major city, cat 4 or better.

[jaguar77]

Originally Posted by riverviewnative

Fedup
Brother you have no idea. When they built the subdivision behind us they bulldozed up the gopher tourties that are supposed to be protected. Piled them all up and then just paid the fine.
We used to have the cutest little gound owls too. Long gone. Wild hogs used to run through there every night.
Since that thing began construction we have had squirrels, possums, a baby skunk, an arridillo, rabbits, turtles, one Bob cat, snakes and some damn rats.
All of these critters tried to live on our acer of land. The rabbits and squirrels are still here. The skunk comes by from time to time.We have a few big trees for the squirrels and I let the grass grow in the back of the yard for the rabbits. I saw a gator run over a while back. The only thing we got rid of was the rats. The rest moved on on their own. To where I have no idea because there is not much left for them.

It would have been a good idea to have taken some pictures of what they were doing with the gopher tortises and contact the local news channel at the time. The power of TV is remarkable!