Wednesday, January 19, 2011 (A Visit to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, FL)

Well, we woke up to loud banging of a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters this morning...at 6:00 a.m.!! I was “kind of” awake already...but really...6:00 a.m.?! Perhaps they figure that most folks here are retirees (notice I did not say ‘seniors‘) and get up really early anyway.

We had our usual slow start to the day and finally headed out to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park arriving just before 11:30. The entrance to the park is right off Hwy 19 and after paying the entrance fee ($13 each); a 20 minute boat ride along Pepper Creek from the visitor’s centre takes you to the park itself. The park is staffed by a number of volunteers (a great job for seniors, by the look of it) and “Captain Bob” gave a narration along the way, pointing out some of the wildlife as well as giving a little history of the park. It was a privately owned attraction dating back to the early 1900`s and was home for many exotic animals (basically a zoo). The park was home for a number of movie animals including Lu, the hippopotamus from Daktari; Clarence, the cross-eyed lion; and Gentle Ben. The Florida Park Service purchased the attraction in 1989 and shifted the emphasis of the park to native Florida wildlife. All the exotic animals were found new homes except Lu...who was granted Florida "citizenship"by the governor in 1991.

We were just in time for the 12:30 Hippopotamus/Alligator show where the park ranger told us all about Lu and also gave a warning about what happens if he starts to twitch his tail...get out of the way! He can blast poo over 15 feet! We stayed well away! Poor Lu was very tired not paying any attention to the crowd that had formed around his pen. He turns 51 later this month.

Then the ranger focused on the lagoon on the other side of the bridge where the alligators were sunning themselves. They didn’t look real...not even a twitch was made by any of them. They are basically dormant in the winter and don`t eat.

After the show was over, we started our wildlife walk around the rest of the park. First stop was the Red Wolves exhibit...

Followed by the Fox...

Then the birds...lots and lots of birds...

Pelicans

Beautiful Flamingos

Roseate Spoonbills...the picture doesn't do them justice--they are such a pretty shade of pink.

There were tons more birds and pictures but that's probably enough.

There were black bears, deer, panthers, cougars and bobcats...all separated by chain-link fences...we took a few pictures but none really turned out well through the fence. But the park is really nicely done.

There was even a Reptile Exhibit...all housed in a very warm building...

And finally we came to the Manatee Pool. This pool has 7 rescued manatees that have been injured or orphaned and they usually are able to swim out into the springs at the head of the Homosassa River. But with the recent cold snap, they have opened up the gates for the wild manatees to come to the springs to the warmer water. This means that the rehab manatees must be kept in a separate pool fenced off from the wild ones.

We carried on along the path to the Garden of Springs, an area along the Homosassa River where the wild manatees have come to warm up. There are dozens of them there...very cool. They look like big slabs of rock in the water...

We decided we would come back after the Manatee Program which will be starting shortly just a little further down the path at the Fishbowl. This is also where the underwater observatory and viewing deck is. Due to the ‘captive‘ manatees being kept away from the wild ones, there would be no manatees to actually see in the Fishbowl (they are further out in the river right now where it is sunnier)...just tons of fish...

The volunteer gave a great commentary about the Manatees...very interesting. After the program was over, she went over to the Manatee Pool to feed them...Romaine lettuce was on the menu for lunch today.

We returned to the Homosassa River to view the manatees and take more pictures...

We walked by Lu's pen again and low and behold, he had decided to get up...

After wandering around a bit more, we decided to call it a day and headed back to catch the boat back to the visitor‘s center. There is a trolley (well, it actually a truck pulling some trolley carts) that will get you back a lot faster but the boat ride is much nicer.

We had had a great afternoon...and as Steve said...too bad we have to spoil it by doing some grocery shopping. But the fridge and freezer were getting a little bare so we stopped at Publix on the way home.

Once back at the trailer, I put just the food that needed to be refrigerated away and joined Steve outside to enjoy the tail end of the sun. We weren‘t out long before we headed inside, though...it really cools down once that sun gets low in the sky.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the campground and then settled in to watch TV. We thought we might do a little exploring around Crystal River tomorrow.