When I was in Florida last winter I drove past Homosassa Springs State Park. I didn’t stop at the time as it was already quite late in the afternoon and I wanted to find a place to spend the night. I found a spot about ten miles down the road, but the next morning I didn’t feel like back-tracking to the park. So I didn’t see what it had to offer.
When I saw the sign for the park on this trip I decided there was no time like the present. The day was windy and quite cool, thus there were very few people at the park. There was plenty of room in the lot, so I parked, grabbed my camera and went inside the building.
Once inside I found out that it you park where I was, you aren’t actually at the park yet. To reach it I had to take a one mile boat ride, which was actually fairly pleasant, if a little cold, on that day. Once I reached the actual park I paid my entrance fee, got a map and went inside.
the ride into the park
The park was once privately owned and contained a small zoo. When it was taken over by the state, the powers that be decided that only animals native to the state of Florida should reside there. (The animals are ones that have been injured and can no longer survive in the wild.) However, there was also a hippo in the park when the state took over. This hippo that was very, very popular with area school children and a lot of adults too. There was so great an outcry over the plan to move him to a zoo that he was allowed to stay and is now a park “mascot” of sorts.
bobcat
Florida panther
green heron
In addition to the hippo there were a lot of varieties of birds to see, plus river otters, a bobcat, a Florida panther, various reptiles and some manatees, etc. The watercourse that runs through the park is open, so that wild manatees can come and go as they please. There is an underwater viewing area where you can walk down a few stairs and watch them swim around in front of the windows. It seemed as though they liked watching us almost as much as we enjoyed them.
stilt
spoonbill
whooping crane
There are also at least three adult manatees that are permanent residents of the park. If you are in the right spot at the right time you can watch them being fed. While I was there, employees were tossing the contents of a large (about three by four feet) box of lettuce into the water. It was amazing to watch these huge creatures suck in a large head of romaine and make it disappear in only a minute or so. They are such gentle, peaceful creatures for something so large. It was painful for me to see the deep scars on their backs from boat props. But within the confines of they park they are safe, protected.
manatees from above
feeding time
manatees
I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering among the various enclosures, only leaving when it came almost time for the park to close. If you’re ever in the area, do yourself a favor and stop. It’s worth a visit.
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