Seeing a stray cat usually isn’t a cause for concern, but what if that cat was a panther?
Facebook user Tina Dorschel shared a video to the social media site on March 29, showing the boardwalk and pine flatwoods of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which is located just outside of Naples, Florida.
At just about 11 seconds into the video, she captures a pretty amazing sight—a Florida panther.
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
According to its website, the sanctuary, which is more than 13,000 acres, is “maintained through land management practices to sustain native plants and animals found [there] and to preserve the natural processes that have been occurring for thousands of years.”
A research manager for the society which maintains the land told Mashable that such an encounter is “highly unusual,” although the panthers are free to walk the boardwalk. She said there haven’t been sightings in the past.
“I have no concern about panthers in general,” she said. “I think any time you go into a natural environment, you’re gonna encounter nature, and I think that what we saw from the panther’s behavior was actually a really good sign that the panther was afraid of the situation—they don’t want to be around people.”
The sanctuary shared the video on their own Facebook page and added an abundance of sanctuary information.
Along with the panthers, the preserved lands are home to many different types of birds, hundreds of alligators, otters, white-tailed deer, and red-bellied turtles.
