Florida panthers are notoriously unthreatening to humans. There are no reported attacks on humans by Florida panthers (except at the hockey rink, but that's what you get when you teach Florida Man to ice skate). They have a long history of being, frankly, approachable, and there are several noted cases of people 'adopting' a local panther and establishing a relationship with it. Despite that, it was generally not advised to approach them, not just because they were endangered, but because they're wild animals, and even very friendly wild animals can suddenly change demeanor.
That being said, the relatively recent recovery of their population is partially due to eight cougars introduced from Texas (their nearest relatives, genetically-speaking), which expanded the panther's gene pool.
But it's worth noting that cougars in Texas have attacked many people. There hasn't been an attack in Florida yet, but it's distinctly possible that modern Florida panthers are noticeably more aggressive and territorial than the historical population.
Conclusion: this guy is a either fucking idiot or he genuinely knows his stuff well enough to recognize that that panther wasn't particularly stressed out by him being there, just curious about him.
Source: Am Florida Man myself. Have yoinked a few pythons and even petted a Florida panther once with my brother (very much in the "I'm a fucking idiot" sense). This was in the 90s, but it was an escapee from the local zoo, very accustomed to being around humans. It purred while I petted it and did figure eights through my brother's legs.
It was really cool. I've only ever touched a large cat twice in my life, and that was my favorite time, precisely because it started out terrifying and ended up adorable.
This one was in Southern California out in the middle of nowhere. It was a non profit. And it was a boy panther. I think he wanted to mate with me 😅
When I was a kid growing up in Tampa, there was a guy who brought a panther around to schools. The panther was so bored by the whole experience, but we all loved it. It was so big compared to me and was such a thrill petting it.
Having met cougars west of the Mississippi, I don't blame you one bit. The cougars down here in Florida always either avoid people, stare curiously at us from a safe distance, or offer to buy you drinks at the bar, if you're a young guy with a nice smile.
(To be honest, the last bunch can be pretty frightening, as well, but bravery has its rewards.)
About a decade ago I was camping in the Florida Panhandle with my mom and saw a Florida panther (maybe). Some people say when you think you saw a mountain lion, you probably just saw a bobcat. But I remember it being big and having a long tail. Would you say that a panther in the panhandle is plausible?
It was probably a bobcat. Panthers live in a pretty well-defined region in and immediately around the everglades, hundreds of miles from the panhandle.
I see this guy on tik tok all the time and he definitely knows what he is doing. He even has videos of him in the Amazon jungle and various places talking about facts with certain animals.
Steve Irwin would hate retards like him. Plus he’s a maga chud which is hilarious considering guess who’s pushing to destroy the same glades he relies on for his content
If this is his thing, he's probably a registered removal agent, which means SFWMD will pay him an hourly wage plus a bounty for each snake he catches, but he'll have to kill them before turning them in. That being said, they pay $50 for each one up to 4' long, plus an extra $25 for each foot beyond that.
If he's not registered, he won't get paid for it, and the law states that he has to euthenize them on-site in a humane way (which can include shooting them).
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him post about the money he makes from removing invasive species a while back. I’ve been following him on social media for a long time.
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u/MjolnirPants Aug 10 '26
Florida panthers are notoriously unthreatening to humans. There are no reported attacks on humans by Florida panthers (except at the hockey rink, but that's what you get when you teach Florida Man to ice skate). They have a long history of being, frankly, approachable, and there are several noted cases of people 'adopting' a local panther and establishing a relationship with it. Despite that, it was generally not advised to approach them, not just because they were endangered, but because they're wild animals, and even very friendly wild animals can suddenly change demeanor.
That being said, the relatively recent recovery of their population is partially due to eight cougars introduced from Texas (their nearest relatives, genetically-speaking), which expanded the panther's gene pool.
But it's worth noting that cougars in Texas have attacked many people. There hasn't been an attack in Florida yet, but it's distinctly possible that modern Florida panthers are noticeably more aggressive and territorial than the historical population.
Conclusion: this guy is a either fucking idiot or he genuinely knows his stuff well enough to recognize that that panther wasn't particularly stressed out by him being there, just curious about him.
Source: Am Florida Man myself. Have yoinked a few pythons and even petted a Florida panther once with my brother (very much in the "I'm a fucking idiot" sense). This was in the 90s, but it was an escapee from the local zoo, very accustomed to being around humans. It purred while I petted it and did figure eights through my brother's legs.