Homosassa Park, FL

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Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park was an private amusement park back in the thirties. It had weird zoo animals, amusement rides and "circus tricks". You know the 2ft man and his 8 ft son. Or the bearded lady, etc. It ran its course and fell into disrepair. I think the owners needed to get out of debt so the land was given to the state. The story goes that all the animals were farmed out to zoos except for one, the hippopotamus . And the only way the state could keep him was if he was a citizen of Florida. So, they granted him citizenship.

Of course, now they have 'gaters' to excite all the tourists. 

But the real reason for the existence of this State Park is wildlife refuge and recovery. Many hurt and broken animals from all over Florida make their way here for recovery and recuperation. Birds which can no longer fly, alligators with prop cuts on their backs, or Manatees in need of winter habitation. 

But the reason why we came was for the manatees. 

Can you see them, no? I had a hard time seeing them too. It was really hot, really hot. And I was sitting on metal bleachers in the sun. And I was tired and the manatees were hiding in the shade. Not a good photo shoot.

So here's a picture of their statue in case you don't know a manatee when you see one. 

Manatees require warm water. They cannot survive below 15 °C (60 °F). Their natural source for warmth during winter is warm, spring-fed rivers. Now you know why they call the park Homosassa Springs State Park. 

The park has a natural spring at the end of an inlet that reaches to the gulf. Manatees looking for warm water during the winter move into the inlet in towards the spring at the end. So during the winter the inlet is full of manatees. At the Spring they have built an underwater room to view the manatees. Unfortunately, we arrived at the very end of the season and the manatees had all left. 

I was in for a great surprise when we went down into the room. Although the manatees had left, a school of snook were still hovering around the spring. There were hundreds of 4 foot, 3 foot fish around the spring and I wondered where my rod was at that moment in time.