'Holy Meow': Rare Predator Found Napping Outside Florida Home

Authorities found a rarely-seen predator snoozing away at a Florida country club earlier this week. Bonita Springs Community Policing Deputies responded to the Bonita National Country Club on reports of a sleeping animal around 9:45 a.m. Monday (December 4), according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Turns out it was an endangered Florida panther taking a cat nap near a stairwell behind some shrubs. Deputies even joked about the unusual discovery in the press release by saying, "Holy meow."

Deputies called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission out after confirming it was a panther. Wildlife officers arrived on the scene and "humanely captured" the creature, cops wrote. They said the panther will be evaluated for a health screening before relocation to its natural habitat.

The sheriff's office also shared photos of the resting big cat before FWC officers caught it.

Earlier this year, a Florida family got the surprise of their life after spotting a Florida panther outside their home.

According to FWC's page on the Florida panther, these solitary beats are listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act. They can be spotted throughout the Sunshine State and even in neighboring Georgia. The wildlife agency said there are 120 to 230 adult panthers in the wild.