"Brian Kelly, a panther biologist for the state of Florida, opens a creaking gate near Fisheating Creek, a narrow ribbon of preserved land just west of Lake Okeechobee.
The path leads from trucks rumbling by on U.S. Highway 27 to a world of towering oaks, cypress heads and a tannic-stained creek that flows into Lake Okeechobee. It's just north of a river that for decades had been the northern limit for the panther.
"Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area — this is the current northern frontier of the panther breeding range," Kelly said. "We've gotten female panther activity here recently, which is big news for panthers north of the Caloosahatchee River."
As Kelly walks down a dirt path shaded by oaks, the sounds of the big trucks fade. Swallow-tailed kites part the morning skies. Hiking boots scuff on bald cypress knees poking out of the sandy soil. A couple of hundred yards in, Kelly bends down to unlock a camouflaged camera bolted to a cypress tree."
