Today was a long day in coming. We’d been wanting to visit Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (http://www.floridastateparks.org/homosassasprings/default.cfm) since we first pulled into town on March 2. We had stopped by to “case the joint” and decided it needed a full day. Today was the first day we could devote to this wonderful park. We had heard there was a manatee viewing area – we discovered much more.
We started our tour with a 20-minute boat ride through a swamp to the wildlife area of the park. Our captain, a park ranger, kept us entertained with stories, history, and interesting nature facts.
This is the only park in the Florida system devoted to native Florida wildlife. We strolled through over a mile of paths as we viewed all the animals native to Florida. This part of the park was staffed by volunteers, some of whom were quite knowledgeable about the animals. We heard of the recent exploits of their female panther. During an elementary school tour, she spotted a squirrel, attacked, and ate it. Apparently the kids were pretty grossed out.
We also saw Lou, the hippo. This park had originally been privately owned by a man who provided animals and “on-site” filming for jungle films such as the original Tarzan movies. This hippo was a star in those films, plus a regular in the “Daktari” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daktari) TV series. As I had been a fan of both the films and the TV show, it was nice to finally meet a star from them.
We also saw Lou, the hippo. This park had originally been privately owned by a man who provided animals and “on-site” filming for jungle films such as the original Tarzan movies. This hippo was a star in those films, plus a regular in the “Daktari” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daktari) TV series. As I had been a fan of both the films and the TV show, it was nice to finally meet a star from them.
In the children’s museum, we finally learned what had frightened Kelly so badly that day we were kayaking at Linger Lodge. Remember? I was paddling, directly behind her, as she entered an area of reeds. She heard a loud splash, felt something “BIG” go under her boat, and back-paddled so fast her hands were a blur. After talking with the docents and viewing the displays, she decided she had probably encountered an alligator snapping turtle.
We visited the underwater observatory, where we saw huge schools of fish that moved in swarms, like I’ve seen only in the movies. Unfortunately, none of our photos from the observatory is worth sharing.
I also want to mention the park snack shop. They served all home-made food. Since it was St. Patrick’s day, there was corned beef and cabbage like my father used to make – really good and restorative on a cool, windy, rainy day.
We visited the underwater observatory, where we saw huge schools of fish that moved in swarms, like I’ve seen only in the movies. Unfortunately, none of our photos from the observatory is worth sharing.
I also want to mention the park snack shop. They served all home-made food. Since it was St. Patrick’s day, there was corned beef and cabbage like my father used to make – really good and restorative on a cool, windy, rainy day.
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