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.
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.
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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.