02-09 Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Florida

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

We made a day trip from Dade City to visit Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park which was about 90 miles north of our campground.

Here is the description from wikipedia:

"Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is located near Homosassa Springs, Florida in the United States. The park is one of the best places in the state to view manatees, some of which are treated at the park before being released into the wild. Visitors can get close to the animals on a floating observatory. Black bears, bobcats, white-tailed deer, American alligators, and river otters can also been seen in the park. The park is also home to the hippopotamus Lucifer(Lu),famously known for his performances in many movies (including John Wayne's Daktari) for the past 40 years."

We had never seen manatees and that was our main reason for going. We were not disappointed. This is a lovely park with many native wildlife on display. Several streams and pools of connected water flow through the park. There are warm springs that originally attracted the manatees and tons of fish. Now there are the various wild animals and lots and lots of birds.

The manatees were very interesting. They have huge bodies, but small heads. Though they are no speed demons, I was surprised to see that they could swim faster than I expected. Four or five live there permanently and come to a spot for feeding at various times during the day. They swim around the park volunteer standing in the water. One rolls over on her stomach and floats beside him for the feeding.

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

Nearby is an underwater viewing area. The park also feeds the fish here and there are thousands of fish jammed together around the windows. This was really fascinating to see.

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

There is another area with lots of different birds gathered. Instead of getting your "ducks in a row", in Florida they get their flamingos in a row:

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

Among the birds were a good many vultures. I was a bit surprised to see so many of them. I assume they were there taking advantage of the free food.

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

Only a few varieties were caged. Most could fly away if they wanted.

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

As mentioned above, there was a huge hippo in the park. He has lived most of his life there. This park was originally a private commercial venture and the hippo dates from that period. When the state took over, the hippo stayed. He is the only non-native animal in the park.

From 2 - 2009 Homasassa Springs Florida

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour through the park - until we returned to the main parking lot. We had brought Clay with us since he hates to stay cooped up in the RV all day. We knew he could not walk the trails with us, but we had learned that they had free kennels he could stay in. We thought he would be fine for a few hours. However we did have some concerns when we went to put him in the kennel. When we arrived a young couple were just closing the adjoining kennel having placed a large bird cage with a big parrot. I can not for the life of me understand why they came with a parrot, but maybe the same reason we brought Clay. Well Clay does not like loud whistles and other noises. Apparently the parrot drove him up the wall. When we finished the tour and came back to the kennel, a park ranger was standing beside Clay's cage. Somehow he had managed to escape twice! The second time, the ranger stood beside Clay's cage since that seemed to calm him. We felt so bad for Clay and for the park ranger. We really appreciated what he had done for Clay and were embarrassed for all the hassle we had caused. That will be the last time we take Clay and plan to leave him in such a kennel arrangement.