Florida is home to one of the most diverse wildlife populations in the US. Given the state’s land ranges from beaches, to swamps, to forests, to open grasslands, there’s plenty of resources available for countless creatures, and we get to see three of them in action in this video captured on some home security cameras.
Two of the three are pretty common throughout the rest of the country: Whitetail deer and black bear. While northern areas tend to see more, and much larger, deer, the Sunshine State is actually home to around 700,000 of the most hunted animal in the country. Florida whitetail typically weigh around 115 pounds, which is much smaller than in northern states (Pennsylvania whitetail average around 140 pounds).
Black bear are present in around 40 of the 50 states, but are more concentrated in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the country, with Alaska having the largest population. They are aso found in the upper Midwest, as well as parts of Appalachia. It’s estimated that Florida is home to around 4,000.
But without question, the rarest of the animals we see in this video is the Florida panther. Currently, there are around 200 panthers roaming the southernmost parts of Florida, and although that number seems quite small, it’s up drastically from where it was in the 1970s.
Florida Panther Resurgence
While Florida is one of the most populous states today, that was far from the case historically. In 1940, less than 2 million people lived in the state. By 1960 the population increased to 5 million, which doubled by the time 1980 rolled around (my personal hypothesis on why this happened was improvements in air conditioning, but I have yet to dive into the data. Let’s call it a strong hunch.)While the state’s economy certainly benefited from the increased number of people, many native species were forced out of their habitats as communities popped up in formerly undeveloped land.
The panther took the brunt of this change in landscape, as each breeding unit (one male and two to five females) requires around 200 square miles to roam.
While development certainly didn’t help the panther, the National Wildlife Foundation blames increased hunting pressure as the main factor for population decline. Panther population dropped to just 20-30 wildcats in the 1970’s, at which point scientists knew they had to act fast to avoid the species going extinct.
It was listed as an endangered species in 1967 but it wasn’t until the 1990s that any real gains were made in increasing their numbers. 8 female pumas were brought in from Texas in hopes of increasing reproductive odds for the males in the area, as well as introducing genetic diversity of the species, who were experiencing serious repercussions from inbreeding. According to Ohio State University, five of the pumas brought in had at least 20 offspring, which served as the boon for the panther they were hoping for. While the wildcat still has long ways to go in establishing a truly stable population, the experiment has proved to be a success.
Well, one of these 200 cats found itself in one of the craziest backyard wildlife scenarios we’ve seen in south Florida.
Two deer were minding their own business, making their way across the yard when they spotted a black bear by the tree line. Naturally, they were immediately put on high alert, as we all know what a bear is capable of if it gets its paws on a deer, especially a young fawn.
Fortunately for them, the bear didn’t seem to be in a hunting mood and left the deer alone to go about their business, but what neither the deer nor bear knew was a panther was laying low behind the house, waiting for just the right moment to strike. The panther realized the deer were distracted by the presence of the bear, and it immediately took advantage.
The two deer split up when the bear suddenly began running off and the fawn happened to run straight at the panther, who immediately crouched down and waited for the opportunity to pounce. The deer seemingly sensed some danger and began moving back toward the other side of the house. The panther realized this wasn’t going to be as easy as it hoped and decided to take a chance at running the fawn down.
Both animals take off in a dead sprint, the panther showing impressive power and the deer impressive quickness as it fleas for its life. They tear through the yard and away into the distance, where we unfortunately don’t see how the story ends. The video says the fawn got away, and lived to fight another day, but if I was a betting man, I’d say the panther will eventually get its meal. Between its speed, strength, and killer instinct, it just makes sense that it wasn’t going to put all that effort in and come up empty.
What a trifecta of Florida wildlife though? All that was missing was the infamous alligator and you’d have quite the Sunshine State special.
