Wednesday December 9th 2020

The overnight temperature was around forty degrees again last night. Once again the bright sun struggled to get the daytime high temperature above sixty. Many areas in the middle of the country had a higher temperature today. This area is experiencing high temperatures about ten degrees below normal.

My adventure for the day was a hike around Hammond Lake in the Lake Louisa State Park. Much of the land that makes up the state park was open cattle land or cleared citrus groves before the park was designated. Most of the trails follow the edges of the open land. Recently the park staff has been grooming the trails with a tractor tiller or rake attachment. I’m not sure why they are leveling and softening the trail surface, but it shows all kinds of tracks.

I’ve always thought the area should have lots of deer so I was watching for deer tracks. Most of the way around the pond I saw human tracks and what I think were dogs, but nothing special. On the far side of the lake a side trail climbs a hill. While following that trail to the top I spotted what looked like deer tracks. A little ways further up the hill I found a bunch of dug up ground that wasn’t done with a tractor. Something had really torn up the ground looking for food. It caused me to reconsider the deer tracks. They may well have been feral pig tracks. Checking pictures on the internet, I can’t tell the difference. Nobody is going to mistake me for an animal track expert. Either way, I’d like to see deer, but I really don’t want a close encounter with a wild pig.

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On a positive note, I found a lot more wild flower blossoms on my hike. The area around the campsites is mostly green and brown. The colorful blossoms are either past or haven’t opened yet.