Florida Panther Runs Down House Cat In Naples-Area Driveway

Don’t sleep on the Florida Panthers…

Whether you call them mountain lions, cougars, pumas, catamounts, or panthers, there’s just no way to describe the largest North American wild cat without shivering a bit. Males generally range between 100 and 160 pounds and can measure up to 7 feet in length, nose to tail, while females come in with a smaller but still impressive 70 to 100 pounds and 6 feet long. Anyone who’s spent time around a large dog known how powerful they can be; now imagine you give them the ability to leap 15 feet, silently stalk prey, and install a bone-chilling hunting instinct that allows them to take out deer, elk, and mountain goats… Talk about an apex predator.

Mountain lions have breeding populations in 15 western states but just one state on the East Coast. Naturally, that one eastern state is the ever wild Sunshine State, though the history of Florida Panthers is quite interesting because they were literally on the brink of extinction in the 1970’s.

Due to a heavy increase in human migration to Florida, it was estimated that only 20 to 30 Florida Panthers remained in the wild as their habitat was flattened and turned into condos and HOA policed suburbs. Naturally (and rightfully), people viewed these cats with fear and many initiatives were taken to reduce their population to allow humans and their pets to live peacefully in the land of the “Lord of the Forest”. However, those efforts went much too far and conservationists knew something had to be done to save these majestic creatures from going the way of the dodo bird and wooly mammoth.

After securing territory for the Florida Panthers to live in, scientists turned their efforts to a new problem: Inbreeding.

With less than 30 Florida Panthers remaining, there was just not enough genetic diversity to maintain a healthy, stable population of the state animal. A plan was drawn and began to be executed in the 1990’s and while there were certainly some opponents, it proved to be very successful.

Researchers brought in 8 female pumas from Texas and allowed nature to run its course. Along with a slew of other protections, this proved to be the boon the species needed and today there are an estimated 200 panthers roaming free throughout the Florida swamp land. This doesn’t mean the sub-species is out of the woods yet though. Cars are a problem for these big cats, with 26 being killed by automobiles in 2018 alone, and many people who coexist with these predators see the damage they are capable of inflicting first hand. One ranch in the heartland of Florida Panther territory estimates they lose between 5% and 7% of their calf herd each year just due to panther predation.

Unfortunately, it also means that some people lose their beloved house pets, as you can’t exactly tell a panther to only go after the other wild creatures…

This leads us to a wild video that went viral a few years ago but it worth watching again. In a quite neighborhood, someone’s house cat was minding its own business outside, just chilling in the driveway, when a Florida Panther did what a Florida Panther does best. Easy to see why people aren’t fans of these big cats after watching but it’s also a reminder that we live with this planet, not on it. To deny that humans and our domesticated animals are integrated with the natural cycles of planet earth is just flat out crazy and the sooner we all realize this fact, the safer us and our house cats can be.

Also, just keep your cats inside if you live in Florida Panther territory… Just like you shouldn’t let your dog swim in alligator infested water, you shouldn’t let a 15 pound (at best) fur ball out where a 200 pound beast is hunting for dinner.

For more on Florida Panthers (not the hockey team), check out the Emmy-nominated documentary, Path Of The Panther.

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