DINNER ISLAND RANCH, Fla. — Capturing a still image or video of a panther in the wild is not easy; it takes time, patience, a little luck and a secret weapon; hidden remote wildlife cameras.
The trail cameras are the keys to success for the fStop Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2015 to use the power of video for conservation.
"I like to tell people, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons; they have this beauty that just screams at you; it's in your face. Florida, it kind of whispers at you," William Freund, President and founder of the fStop Foundation, told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska. "The beauty of this is it is a little bit harder. But if you are able to listen and able to see, it is just absolutely beautiful."
We met Freund and his son Max on a chilly spring morning in March. Max had his tricked-out Jeep Gladiator fully loaded with cameras, long lenses and a mobile setup with an awning, running water, fridge, and espresso machine. Caffeine is a luxury and necessary ingredient to long days of shooting in the wilds of Florida.
The father-son duo took us deep into Dinner Island Ranchpast soaring cypress domes, oak hammocks, pine lands, wetlands, and seas of grass. It is a vast 22,000-acre wildlife management area operated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The Freund family drove us off-road as we navigated through herds of cattle and a series of gates. We could see several threatened species of birds, including burrowing owls and caracaras.
"Nature is my happy place. So having a camera and being out in nature is always the best time for me," Max Freund said. "And I think being able to show people; this is Florida. There's so much more than just the beaches and Disney."
Max picked up his first camera at eight and has honed his skills. Now, he works as the nonprofit's Chief Content Creator.
"It was a natural progression, and we were out there finding the first Panther track together. And we've been doing it since," Max Freund said. "The dream is to catch Panther. But we all know it's probably never going to happen. But we've seen Bobcats, bears, waterbirds, caracara, so anything and everything we can document and help tell a story with."
The first two films ever produced by the fStopFoundation, The Need for Connectivity and Wildlife in our Backyard, won numerous awards. The power of the movement triggered trail cameras giving viewers an intimate look into the lives of animals big and small.
"Humans tend to be very shallow of how we think of — especially predators," William Freund said. "We think that a panther, what it does is it kills, and it has babies, right? So that's our mentality for predators and even bears. And, so, the cameras show the compassion, the depth of character and feelings that these animals have."
The trail camera we came to service on Dinner Island Ranch looks over a cypress log spread across an artificial canal. William describes the log as a micro-corridor crucial as the main Florida wildlife corridor.
"It's an interesting study that we are doing with this little log right here because sort of trying to understand how human actions, which is the making of this canal, can affect wildlife, and we don't tend to think of that stuff we think of the bigger corridors," William Freund said. "It's essential for their lives, and many don't have ranges bigger than what goes around this canal. And in the summer, that log will be underwater; it's even harder for them to cross."
Wildlife biologist Sean McHugh, with FWC, lives on the property. He was able to capture video of panthers crossing the submerged log. One clip even shows a panther pausing, staring into the pitch-black waters of the canal, then hissing at an alligator.
The usual suspects use the log to cross raccoons, birds, bobcats, bears, and panthers.
The camera on Dinner Island Ranch is one out of more than 160 across the state. They have a dedicated staff and team of volunteers that fan out across the wilds of Florida to pop the memory cards and store thousands upon thousands of clips of the animals. Each video is another step towards learning to coexist.
"Will we have the acceptance of having these animals in our backyard," William Freund said.
Where the animals go also helps guide the Florida Department of Transportation to roads that need wildlife crossings and the best locations to build new crossings. Cameras also show how panthers that encounter wildlife crossings use them.
"It took her two days to teach her three kittens how to use a crossing under I-75," William Freund. "And, you see her frustration, right, because she's walking, and they usually just follow her and play around everything. But they stopped because they could hear the trucks and everything rumbling, so looks back, and she chirps at them, and they wouldn't go. So then she growls, and she gets frustrated. And she would go through and come back the next morning to go hunting come back. And it took her two days to convince the cats and kittens to go through."
William tells Paluska the panthers are an umbrella species, and humans are underneath that umbrella.
"Because we're building the homes in their backyards. Yeah, how do we coexist? How do we thrive with them and the understanding of that? We talk a lot about, for example, the panthers and umbrella species, right? So that what does that mean? And we kind of shudder at that and say, how can we be under a panther umbrella? We're humans? The main thing that recharges the aquifer is rainwater that goes through green; it doesn't go through a Walmart parking lot. That does not recharge the aquifer. And, if we want to survive as Floridians have water as Floridians, we must protect the Panthers."
While riding in Max's jeep out of the wildlife management area, Max spotted a gator. When we turned around to get the video, we noticed something else, baby gators—a rare encounter even for these seasoned photographers.
"I only saw the mom. And then there were about six babies there. And it was awesome," Max Freund said.
"Have you ever seen baby gators in the wild?" Paluska asked.
"I have once or twice. But this was the closest I've ever been," Max Freund said
"How does it feel knowing that you've inspired your son because of your actions, and you could inspire other people's children?" Paluska asked.
"I get it from my parents, and so we learned that also at home and grew up with that, in El Salvador and elsewhere," William Freund said. "And so it's great to pass it forward and have him also want to be a part of this and want to be out here. And my dad always said it's later than we think. And so, you know, there's a lot to do out here and to show and help protect and conserve what we have. So it's great to do it with him and hopefully inspire and create that awareness. That's the whole mission of fStop."
"Is the Panther and all the other species in this area? Are they better off today than they were 10 years ago?" Paluska asked.
"Yeah, absolutely they are," William Freund responded. "The Panther story is one of the real incredible success stories. I think the Panthers are one of the few big cats it's growing in population size."
"When you look at each, where do you guys hope to be in 10 years?" Paluska asked.
William and Max both laughed and responded at the same time, "Right here."
