Page 138 - a-columbia-county-boys-recollections-and-memories-of-columbia-county-florida-(2012)-lenvil-h-dicks

A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

MYSTERY OF THE FRESHLY KILLED DEER

Once when I was just rambling around at the ranch, which incidentally had a very large population of
both wild deer and wild turkeys, I came across a deer lying beside one of the little jeep trail roads that I
had built, and the animal was still quite warm. It had obviously just been killed, but I could not see any
bullet holes, nor any marks on it, and I had not heard a shot, even though I was in the same general area
at the time the deer was probably killed. I thought well it seemed as though the deer was of suitable
quality that it would be alright to throw it in the back of my truck and have someone skin it and butcher
it for me, since it was quite a large doe, and would make some good venison.

I walked on back for approximately a quarter of a mile to where 1 had parked my truck, and drove back
by where the deer was, intending to get the deer up into the back of the truck.

I was absolutely dumb-founded to find that when I got back to the location where 1 had found the deer,
the deer was no longer there. Upon examination of the surrounding area I could see where the deer had
been dragged off about 50 feet away and had been placed in a hiding spot by something. A large tree
had been blown down nearby, and the thick limbs at the top of the tree were lying on the ground, and I
found that the deer had been stashed up inside the top of that tree which was on the ground.

It dawned on me, pretty quick, as to what had probably happened, and it made the hairs stand up on the
back of my neck. I suddenly realized that nothing could have done that except for a fully grown Florida
panther. And so I thought “never mind the deer”, and I got my butt out of there and back in the truck and
did not hang around.

At that time I had a man working for me who worked at the ranch, doing maintenance work and
mowing, by the name of Horace Gilliard. A few days later 1 told Horace about finding the deer, and then
finding that something had moved the deer about 50 feet, and he told me that on two or three occasions
he had seen from a distance what he thought might be a panther, and in fact he was almost certain that
he had seen a panther at the ranch on two or three occasions. I never saw a panther, but I will always
feel that I was very close to one on that one occasion.

The lack of any wounds on the dead deer was because,(or so I have been told) that panthers kill a deer
by holding the wind pipe in their mouth until the deer suffocates.

I questioned Horace having seen a panther because he said the animal he saw was jet black. I did not
find out until later that it is not unusual for a Florida panther to be completely black. Since I could not
find any other explanation for the deer being carried off, I am sure now that 1 had something watching
me from the time I first saw the dead deer, and now I am sure that it probably was something jet black.

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