(Editor’s note: This letter was printed in Wednesday’s edition, but due to technical difficulties, a portion was left off. It is reprinted in its entirety.)

Dear editor:

I read the recent article about possible panthers in the area and thought about a personal experience. Several years ago, my husband Cobby and I spent almost every day riding horses through the fields and woods around Cook Road. The Okapilco Creek flows through that property and for many generations the people who live along the creek have talked about seeing big cats. They called them “painters”.

 One day as Cobby and I were riding along a trail, we came around a corner where there was a wide grassy patch. There, sitting in the middle of the sunlit patch of grass, was a large panther. She was tan with a long tail which had a dark tip. She was grooming herself as cats will do.

 When our horses smelled her, they tried to turn away but we held them and watched. She lazily looked back over her shoulder at us, got up, stretched, and sauntered away. We watched her go down the path and into the woods. Needless to say, we went the other direction.

I went home and called the DNR. The people there at first told me that this was not possible, that perhaps we had seen an otter or just a large house cat.

 But when I explained that we got a good long look at this animal and that we were very familiar with the area, the person on the phone finally admitted that it was possible. In fact, he transferred me to another office and the person I spoke to told me that we could have seen a Florida panther.

 He also told me that some studies were being done to track panthers in south Georgia.  During that same time frame, two other riders saw large cats and one person driving down the bypass near CCHS (where Okapilco Creek crosses) saw a large black cat crossing the road. So I do believe that there have been panthers here for a long time.  I know there was one that day on the trail. We felt so honored to have had that moment to watch such a beautiful, special animal.

Diane Barfield

Moultrie