Home & Garden
Watch: Charging Florida Panther Interrupts Nature Walk
A woman was out on a nature hike at Naples' Corkscrew Swamp when the encounter occurred.
On on early morning nature walk we saw a gator, a snake, frogs, pretty birds, and had this unexpected encounter. (Warning...curse word at end!)
Posted by Tina Dorschel on Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Editor’s note: The video contains a profane word at the very end.
NAPLES, FL — A Madison, Wisc., woman got the surprise of a lifetime recently while out on a leisurely stroll through the National Audubon Society’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples.
It seems Tina Dorschel was delighted when her early morning walk paid off with a number of wildlife sightings. She managed to spot a gator in the swampy waters below the boardwalk she was on, along with a snake, a bunch of frogs and plenty of birds. It was her unexpected sighting that has people talking and left Dorschel uttering a four-letter word at its conclusion.
As Dorschel was filming the boardwalk scene, a rather beefy Florida panther charged at her on the boardwalk. The critter, however, wanted nothing to do with the human in its swamp. It ran up to her and just kept on going, straight down the boardwalk.
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Dorschel posted a video of the entire encounter on her Facebook page. She even included a warning about the curse word at the end. Since it was posted Wednesday, Dorschel’s video has been viewed more than 440,000 times.
Dorschel’s encounter was a rarity. It is estimated that only 180 of the big cats remain in the Sunshine State in the wild. The Florida panther is considered one of the smaller members of the cougar species found in Florida. Males can reach a length of about 7 feet and females grow to about 6 feet, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports on its website.
Given their low numbers, the carnivores are listed as endangered by the federal government and the state of Florida. They are found mainly in south and central Florida, but have been spotted as far north as central Georgia, the state reports.
To learn more about Florida panthers, visit FWC online. To find out more about the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, visit the Audubon Society online.
Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
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