Carrabelle Cares

Ave C and Marine Street mark the beginning of the “Animal Alley”, featuring  the “touch tanks” from the FSU Marine Lab and Gulf Specimens Lab.  Environmental booths, including the “Life as a Bear” maze, Smokey Bear, the Fire Cabin and other special attractions will be in attendance.

This year Nature Walk will have a special guest.  The Bear Creek Feline Center will be presenting “Saint”, a one year old endangered Florida Panther.  “Saint” will be in attendance to highlight the search for the Carrabelle Cat.  Have you seen the Carrabelle Cat? 

Meet "Saint", Bear Creek Feline Center's Florida Panther yearling.

The Bear Creek Feline Center will display information on the search for the Carrabelle Cat, and  information on the approach being taken to document the existence of the illusive but often sighted Carrabelle “Cat”.

The Carrabelle Riverfront Festival is delighted to present one of this years special guest.  "Saint", a one year old Florida Panther will be in attendance on Saturday to highlight the search for the Carrabelle Cat.  Bear Creek Feline Center will provide some technical demonstrations on how to make track castings of animal foot prints as part of the Bear Creek Feline Exhibit at the Carrabelle Water Plant.  Several other feline species will be in attendance on Sunday as well.

"Saint" was born at the Bear Creek Feline Center near Panama City Florida on Super Bowl Sunday when the New Orleans Saint won the super bowl.  The center features a variety of native and exotic cats. 

For more information about Bear Creek Feline Center click HERE!

We will have three cats in Carrabelle this weekend. 

Saturday   10:00 AM -  2PM            Florida Panther "Saint"
Saturday   11:00 AM -                    Jay Smith with casting workshop 
Saturday     2:00 PM -  6PM            Asian Leopard "Sita" with Carl Bovard
Sunday     11:30 AM -                    "UGA" Bobcat with Mike & Amanda Myers

The search for the "Carrabelle Cat" is underway.  According to local witnesses, a number of unusual cats have been spotted in the area. 

It all started with a video of what appears to be a large black cat that was video taped by a local hunter from a deer stand.  The YouTube video which has received numerous hits on YouTube, captures a large dark brown or black cat walking down a local dirt road within a few miles of the Carrabelle city limits. At one point the feline stops to mark its territory. 

Another cat that has been seen in the local area is thought to be a Jaguarundi.  The south american cat has a history of existance within the Southwest United States but has not been documented to exist in Florida.  These unusual cats are commonly refered to as "otter cats" and are only slightly larger that the domesticated cat. They have a very long tail and a small head.  Their are a number of experts who believe that these cats exist in various parts of Florida but none have been officially recognized at this time. 

Other eye witnesses claim to have observed the endangered Florida Panther in the area.  Occasionally males move north from their limited habitat in South Florida and these cats have been documented in other southern states like Georgia and the Carolinas.  This NorthWest Florida Panhandle is thought to be a possible territory for expanding the habitat of the Florida Panther.  If the Florida Panther has set up residence in the Northwest Florida area it would be a significant development in the efforts to save this incredible native florida species.