Florida Panther with Fawn

I didn't take this photo, one of the citrus growers who is a friend of mine
has a wildlife camera in their grove in SW Florida and the camera captured this shot.

I thought it would be interesting for you guys to see.

Always happy to see the elusive Florida panther thanks

Neat shot...but with the quality, I can't tell that is a fawn. Does the Panther have a collar on? Again with the quality I can't tell for sure...

Pretty much every panther in Florida wears a collar. Similar to the black bears here, they are all tracked. The black bears are implanted with a GPS tracking device. Not sure why they don't do that with the panthers as well.

I would say it's not a fawn that is being carried, but rather a rabbit. Cool picture none the less!

Ring King wrote in post #15679559
Pretty much every panther in Florida wears a collar. Similar to the black bears here, they are all tracked. The black bears are implanted with a GPS tracking device. Not sure why they don't do that with the panthers as well.

I would say it's not a fawn that is being carried, but rather a rabbit. Cool picture none the less!

I dont think so. From the Florida Panther rescue

That looks way to large for a Florida rabbit

Look at those huge paws. Wouldn't want to stumble upon one of these while on a walk!

Thank you for sharing! I always here about Florida panthers, now seeing is believing!

photohistorian wrote in post #15680436
Thank you for sharing! I always here about Florida panthers, now seeing is believing!

About 2 years ago a young lady photographer had just dropped her husband off at work early am and was on her way home when a panther came out of the bushes onto the road..with 2 cubs!. Yes she got photographs they were in the newspaper.

Very cool-are their numbes improving at all from 10 or so years ago? I saw the figure of 250 cats thrown around a lot at the time.

Do you know what time of year the photo was taken? The actual date?

Photo taken last week. Growers in the area tell me they are seeing lots of
panthers, many untagged.

Garry Gibson wrote in post #15681973
Photo taken last week. Growers in the area tell me they are seeing lots of
panthers, many untagged.

Whitetail Deer in Florida breed in late January thru early February. Their gestation period is approximately 7 months, meaning that fawns are born in late summer. So, there is practically no way that is a fawn. Looks a lot like a typical 2 pound rabbit to me!

An awesome photo, just the same. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Tom Reichner wrote in post #15681984
Whitetail Deer in Florida breed in late January thru early February. Their gestation period is approximately 7 months, meaning that fawns are born in late summer. So, there is practically no way that is a fawn. Looks a lot like a typical 2 pound rabbit to me!

An awesome photo, just the same. Thanks for sharing it with us!

north of Florida, rut behavior of males is highly synchronized and triggered by the shortening day- lengths in late fall. However, in Florida and other southern latitudes(such as Texas and Venezuela),

. The timing of rut differs by region within the state of Florida and may also differ from one year to the next within the same region. Rut in the Nassau, Duval counties' area usually occurs from October through January. The onset of rut in the Panhandle is commonly between a month or two later than that in the northeast.

.

This variability indicates that the reproductive patterns of Florida's deer have evolved to unique environmental pressures. For instance, peak periods of fawning in the Everglades in south Florida have been found to occur during the January-March dry season. Fawns from northern states are typically born during June, a period of heavy rainfall and seasonal flooding in south Florida. Does that do not become pregnant during their first estrus will come into estrus again 28 days later. Because of this and due to milder climates,

.

Depending on the availability of dominant bucks, young ones may not have an opportunity to breed until they are several years old.

Once impregnated, the doe's gestation lasts about 200 days (6.5 months). The peak birthing months in north Florida are April through June and

. Key deer are born in March through June. Because of the severe energetic costs of lactation, the birth of fawns is typically correlated to the availability of highly nutritious forage. Productivity rates of Florida deer are low and variable compared to herds in northern states where more nutrient-rich soils provide higher-quality foods. Pregnancy rates in different south Florida deer populations have ranged from 62-96%. Nutritional status also influences the number of offspring a doe can have and, whereas twinning is common in northern herds, it is relatively rare in Florida.

A lot of great info there, CDiver - thanks! I had not noticed the "SW" in the OP the first time I read it, so there might indeed be some ill-timed fawning down there in that part of the state.

I still think it looks a lot like an average size florida cottontail rabbit. Do the folks that took the photo have any reason to believe its a fawn, such as photos showing it from different angles? Or did they just assume it was a fawn? It's be great to have some kind of verification one way or the other.

Tom re photos from a different angle, probably not as it was a camera trap. there may be more from the same trap but that would depend on what time interval they had set it to. The Florida bunnies are small maybe enough for a one person meal..if there were lots of mashed potato to go with it.