[Taltarzac725]

Anyone else startled by a strange critter in the Villages last night? Saw it come from between our house and the neighbor's. Stop in the next door neighbor's drive-way and then cross the street only to stop again at a neighbor who is kitty corner to us.

My guess is that it was only about 30 lbs but it looked like from the pictures online like a Florida panther. But I do not remember a long tail.

Florida panthers are a lot more than 30 lbs full grown. It did have the panther's solid color though.

I did Google the Villages and Florida panther. That brought up a picture but that looks a lot bigger than what I saw.

[AJGeorge]

On March 12th we played the Hibiscus course at Cane garden.
On the 5th hole we saw two animals in the fairway. Both black
and cat like. The appeared to be 12 inches high and 24 to 30 inches
long. One was in the middle of the fairway watching us tee off and the
other was in the brush/foliage on the left side of the fairway. They
both moved off as we began to approach.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by AJGeorge

On March 12th we played the Hibiscus course at Cane garden.
On the 5th hole we saw two animals in the fairway. Both black
and cat like. The appeared to be 12 inches high and 24 to 30 inches
long. One was in the middle of the fairway watching us tee off and the
other was in the brush/foliage on the left side of the fairway. They
both moved off as we began to approach.

What I saw was brown in color which did seem to have a cat like head. Its body was solid brown. I did not see any spots.

I was holding onto my dog's leash as he really wanted to give chase. He is a chihuahua mix but thinks he is a Great Dane.

[anothersteve]

Bobcat.
Steve

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by anothersteve

Bobcat.
Steve

That is the most likely. Or a very young Florida panther but that is highly improbable.

[John_W]

A Bobcat walking along the top of a villa wall in the Village of Hillsborough. The Bobcat has pointed ears.



A Florida Panther, only one of maybe a 100 in the state, caught via a motion sensor camera in the middle of the night chasing a wild boar east of Gainesville.



A Bobcat photographed running down the 9th fairway of Eget at Evans Prairie Golf Course.

[Maryc7878]

Wow, cool photos

[Andyb]

Probably a Bobcat

[Lblueocala]

You described a bobcat. They are or can be a lighter tan down here and don’t display the spots as much as they age. They are bigger then people think, and will take a small to medium size dog or cat for food. They can also have rabies, so stay away from them leave them a lone.

[robertadorn@yahoo.com]

Probably a bobcat. Often seen in TV.

[davem4616]

keep in mind....where we live was pretty open land not too many years ago

we are going to see wild critters from time to time

animals adapt to the changing environments...not all flee

there is a 'park & fly' lot near the Ft Lauderdale airport....there's a large population of monkeys that lived there prior to it being developed....they still live there and periodically will roam the parking area

[dennisgavin]

"there is a 'park & fly' lot near the Ft Lauderdale airport....there's a large population of monkeys that lived there prior to it being developed....they still live there and periodically will roam the parking area "

I hear they do valet parking! ;o)

[JackRussell]

Chupacabra

[Taltarzac725]

How to Identify Bobcat Scat or Droppings

I did see quite a lot of scat on my dog's walk yesterday afternoon. This was close to the restroom just of the Belmont Golf course. It does look similar to the photo linked above.

Beau pied about four times on it from all angles.

Several other people with familiar dogs around too.

I would expect that the bobcat is in some other Village by now.

[Gail3762]

When we’re these pictures taken? Especially the one in Hillsborough.