I realize that I write pretty frequently about my/our adventures at Myakka State Park. Can’t help it. It’s one of my favorite places to visit. Only twenty minutes from our home, the largest State Park in Florida, a different combination of critters to observe and photograph on every trip – how much more could a good ol’ boy like me ask for?

We had a small amount of rain a couple of weeks ago. On an educated hunch, I asked Pat if she wanted to run out to the Park. I have an annual pass, so it’s a pretty cheap date! Pat costs me a dollar, but, believe me, she’s worth it! (G)

Because of the very rare rain, lots of creatures were out and about. In fact, immediately after we came in the main gate, I looked to the left, across a vacant field, and saw a large flock of wild turkeys. What beautiful and intelligent creatures! That sight was just a harbinger of what was to come. The critters were right along side the road, feasting on the succulent grass – grass greatly improved by the transient rain shower.

There whole bunches of wild turkeys, armadillos, deer, and, oh, yes, wild pigs. These pigs are descendants from farm animals who escaped many, many years ago. They’ve followed the Biblical injunction quite well. They’ve multiplied and “plenished” the entire Park.

Now, don’t misunderstand; these pigs are cute. They can also be dangerous, especially if you’re hiking and manage to come between mama pig and some of her young un’s. They’re also very destructive to the grassy areas of the Park. They root and waller to the point that beautiful areas are turned into pock-marked ground, full of muddy craters, resembling close-up pictures of the Moon!

There are almost always pig traps throughout the Park. Normally, they’re well off the roads and seen only by those who hike the back trails. This day, there were more than twenty traps, right beside the only paved road through the Park. These are made out of Cyclone wire and come complete with a trap door and huge quantities of lovely, yellow shelled corn. The theory is this: when an animal gets inside, while serving the god of gluttony, he/she will brush against the trip rope and get trapped!

Well, we found several empty cages, full of corn, but absent pigs. There were squirrels filling their furry little bellies with corn. There were blackbirds noisily fighting for their share. Just NO pigs!

We’ve been really dry in these parts, for a very long time. As we rounded a curve in the road, alongside the dry lake bed, we spotted three pigs. (I briefly considered writing a children’s story and calling it “The Three Little Pigs”, but decided it didn’t have a future!) There was a large mama pig and two young, nearly grown, boy pigs. They were sniffling, snuffling, smelling, snorting, and scuffling through the short grass.

Pat and I then spotted a cage about twenty yards ahead of the three pigs. We stopped, shut down Tonka 02, and decided to see what might happen. The two male pigs went right into the cage. They ate corn like it was going to go out of style! They brushed up against the trip cord, but didn’t trip the trap door. We sat there for about 45 minutes, entranced and entrapped ourselves by this unfolding drama. The mama pig never entered the cage. Pat and I discussed what we’d do if two out of the three got trapped and the third was still free. Pat has great maternal instincts and I ain’t a bad dad! She didn’t want to see the family get split up.

At the end of our observation time, all three pigs were out of the cage and pursuing scents, sights, and sounds down the trail. We, quite frankly, breathed a real sigh of relief. The score at the point in the game was: Pigs 3, Rangers 0. Awright! (It isn’t that we don’t like all the Rangers. It’s just those cute little pigs.) Ah, but there were still several miles of road and many more cages.

We came across this cage that had a very young pig in it. He was repeatedly running into the back of the cage, eyeing only the woods and unable to identify the wire that entrapped him. He could have turned 180 around and walked right on out. At this cage, there was a full-grown racoon outside the back of the cage. He was too experienced and/or crafty to go inside the cage. He reached through the holes in the wire and dragged fistfuls of corn within easy gobblin’ distance. He was really gorging himself on that free, fast food!

We pretty much decided that we would risk a lot to keep the little baby pig from tripping the cord and getting caught. Now, they don’t kill the pigs, they just try to relocate them a long ways from their current habitat. However, again, we were worried about what his mama and papa would think if he didn’t show up at the end of the day!

When we finally drove on and completed our trek, we came back past all the cages. Not a single cage had succeeded in trapping one or more pigs. We summed up the day this way: Pigs 4, Rangers Zip! (g)

Pat looked at me and said, “I bet this ends up in an Inside Out up on the Net.” Well, she was absolutely right, as usual. We talked some about the parallels between the attempts of the Park Rangers to trap these pigs and satan’s attempts to trap people. His traps are usually well-hidden, disguised, and baited with enticing things designed to suck us in and put us in bondage.

What do you think? What Life Lessons does this story bring to your mind? Please share. use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  One lady wrote and said that her link was a different color. She didn’t however, let that stop her from replying!(g)

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