algues are growing on this gator's legs?
meet Lu the hippopotamus
manatees can grow to 4 meter and weigh 600 kg
they eat from his hand
The ranger explains manatee behaviour. To make sure they stay he feeds them snacks
just dozing away
they are pretty social animals
Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
Homosassa Springs gets its name from the warm-water springs at the head of the short tidal Homosassa River.
Only 13 km seperate the
springs from the Gulf of Mexico and since time immorial manatees travel in wintertime to the springs to warm
up and hang around.
Recently these clever sea cows show the same gathering behaviour around warm outflows of power
plants, much to the chagrin of some conservation biologists who like them to continue the old migration patterns. Seems the manatees
disagree...
Furthermore they show snakes, alligators, river
otters, deer and several species of birds.
We visited the park in early July 1995.
you can join a rivercruise over the Homosassa River and may spot wildlife. We did not see them
the manatee show starts
manatees move slowly and are often mangled by speedboat propellers
the park also features an alligator program
this one seems not completely alguae free either
