Well This Was Surprising!

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Last weekend when my daughter and I went to Disney World for the final culmination of her birthday celebrations, we stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort, a massive Disney resort complex on the southwestern side of the Disney property. The resort backs up to protected conservation lands that are mostly wetland habitat, but also contains some dense upland forest. For reference, of all the land that Disney owns at Walt Disney World, only about 25% is currently developed; 25% is for future development; and about 50% is for conservation. So there is a lot of natural undeveloped land. The Coronado Springs Resort has a 13-story tower, as well as many outlying hotel buildings. There is also a large convention center on the property, so most of the time the outlying hotel buildings are where convention guests stay, while the tower is where theme park guests normally stay. There was no convention in town this particular weekend, so Disney was offering some great discounts to stay in the outlying hotel buildings versus being in the tower. So, we ended up in one of the buildings in the back of the property. On the morning of checkout, when I was loading our bags into the car, I glanced across the small pond that separated our building from the wetland conservation area, and lo and behold a cougar was leisurely strolling along! I have never seen a cougar in Florida before, although experts say they do still exist in small numbers, so I was not sure if my eyes were deceiving me! But there it was! I knew it was a cougar versus a bobcat for a couple of reasons. One, it was too large to be a bobcat. Second, bobcats have pointy ears and nubs for a tail. Although it's hard to tell in the photo, this cat had a full length tail and rounded ears. I just couldn't believe my luck, being in the right place at the right time! I'm still giddy with excitement while writing this discussion a couple of days later! Of all the years I've camped and backpacked and explored the wildernesses of Florida, I have never come across a cougar before. And yet, here in the middle of the world's largest theme park, I spot a cougar just casually strolling along. Have you ever encountered wildlife in a place you least expected it?