Tuesday, May 4, 1999 — 11:30 am
Christmas, Florida — Orlando Wetlands Park
I took a day off from the convention, rented a car, and went birding. My first stop was at the Orlando Wetlands Park for a Limpkin (which I never saw). I walked the trail on the levy through the marsh, dodging Alligators, and seeing tons of birds. At one point, the trail bordered a grove of palms with a dense thicket of brush as an understory.
As I was walking along the edge of the grove, I heard an animal crashing through the brush. I figured it was a deer and didn’t think much about it. A minute or so later I rounded a corner and saw two wild pigs standing on the path about 30 yards ahead of me. They were standing still, looking away from me, and I’m not sure they knew I was there. It looked like they were trying to decide which way to go. A few seconds later, they made up their minds. They trotted off and disappeared around a bend in the trail.