Report 23076: Road grader operator observes creature crossing logging road in Ocala National Forest

It's been 4 years and I have never told anybody about what I saw. I worked in the Ocala National Forest. I maintained 117 miles of forest roads, for logging trucks. It was 95 degrees that day. I thought I had seen everything in that forest, as far as wildlife. But I was wrong.  200 yards in front of me there it was. A large dark brown animal, standing on the side of the road, about 6 and a half feet tall.  It looked at me, and then crossed the road. I drove my moter grader to where it crossed,and there they were--the tracks, about 12 inches long. I had no radio, and figured I best keep this to myself. It crossed the road in 3 steps. I had a job to do, and finished grading the road. This is the first time I ever told anyone. I know what I saw, it was real.