NAPLES, Fla. – While most of Florida is rooting for the Panthers to bring home the Stanley Cup, one woman spent her weekend shooing away an actual Florida panther that was caught lurking outside her home in Naples.
In a video taken by Vendela Harold, the big cat is seen peering into the living room of her Golden Gate Estates home, and it all happened while she was watching a movie.
“I feel like someone is looking at me, so I turn my head and there it is – a panther looking at me like he wanted to come in for some snacks,” she told FOX 35 in Orlando.
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The panther made its surprise visit shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday. It stayed on Harold’s 3-acre property for about 45 minutes before making its way to the front of her house. It eventually took off in the direction of a nearby elementary school, she said.
While she described the experience was a “crazy one,” Harold said she was most concerned for her three dogs.
“I (will worry) about them next time I take them out,” she said. “I have not even seen a bird at my house before, so going from that to seeing a panther on my back porch was crazy.”
While panthers are typically “reclusive and rarely seen by people,” the chances of coming across one are on the rise, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Here’s what officials said you should do if you encounter a Florida panther: