More Manatees

    Today, we took a short trip from our campground in Crystal River to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park in nearby Homosassa. This State Park houses the source of the Homosassa river (the same named spring) and is the care facility for a wide variety of Florida native species that have been injured. The recovering animals are housed in a zoo like atmosphere and can be seen by the visitors.  

The park started out as a private reserve owned by Ivan Tors. He provided a wide variety of animals to Hollywood during the 1960’s. Famous names like Clarence the Cross-eyed lion, Flipper, and Gentle Ben the bear all lived here. When the Florida State Park took over, the emphasis was on Florida Native species, so all of the exotic animals were sent elsewhere. Well, all of them but one. That one was Lu the Hippopotamus. Since nobody really had the ability to take on a Hippo, he was quietly slated to be put down. The locals got wind of this and petitioned the Governor. The Governor decreed that Lu was officially granted honorary citizenship of Florida and could stay. Lu is now nearing 51 and going strong. In fact, they are planning a big birthday party for him on January 26th. 

They even have a neat display of yard art here...

There is a pool that houses 12 Alligators. It was kind of cool and cloudy outside, so they weren’t too active, but they were visible. Just waiting...

Then there was the source of the springs. Here, like the rest of the springs in the state, the water comes in at a constant 72 degrees. This warm water is just what the manatees are wanting. Usually, the park is shut off from direct access to the river and the manatees that are there are injured in some way. This winter, due to the below average cold temperatures, they have opened up the river access and dozens of manatees have come up the river to hang out in the warm waters. Because of this, there is a unique opportunity to see large quantities of manatees in their natural environment. If you can’t swim with them, this is the next best thing. 

Tomorrow, we’re off to Tampa to attend the Florida RV Supershow. It is the largest RV show in the country. We don’t need anything, but it’s fun to see what’s out there and sometimes we get good ideas for improving our current motorhome. Also, we thought that we would observe some humans in their natural environment...