Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park is practically in our backyard. It is one of the closest state parks to where we live. We tried over and over to get to this state park, but something kept popping up. Finally, we made it over in June with our homeschool co-op and a few friends.
It is a wildlife park that is home to a number of animals that are either too injured to live in the wild or were raised by people and cannot live in the wild. They have numerous creatures some of the highlights though were red wolves (which are endangered), numerous birds including a bald eagle that Ruth named Mr. President, and a reptile house. I found the birds most interesting. You could see how they had adapted to walking everywhere using branches to get to higher perches. I wonder though how much anxiety they must feel at being grounded for life now. The kids really loved the reptile house, and Rebecca took a ton of photos there, but I'll spare you. There were turtles and snakes galore, and right outside of the reptile house is a large pen for a single gator.
Perhaps one of the exhibits that Homosassa Springs is best known for however is Lou the hippo. As the oldest living hippo in captivity Lou is in his 60s, but he was also a movie star in his younger days. When the state of Florida first acquired the park, it had been privately owned and was the home to a number of non native animals. The state began rehoming those animals to various zoos around the country, and the locals were outraged. They began efforts to keep Lou right here at home, and so after raising awareness and a long campaign, Lou was granted Florida citizenship by the governor, so that he could live out the rest of his days here at Homosassa Springs State Park.
After we watched Lou eat his lunch and get back into the water for a swim and a nap, we headed over to observe the second most famous area of the park: the manatees. In addition to being a home for injured manatees, they have a rehabilitation center. The day that we went, they had just received a new female manatee that was injured. She was in a small holding area to allow them to treat her and to allow her to become acclimated to the area. A much older manatee was brought up to the rehabilitation center to stay with her. The older manatee is a miracle case herself, she was injured worse than anyone in the state had ever seen, cut to the bone in a number of places and even cutting the bone in some places. However, they were able to nurse her back to health and she's had a home here ever since. While attending a presentation on the manatees, we were able to pass around a manatee rib bone, and they are incredibly dense for their size, so to be able to cut through it must have been a terrible boating accident for her.
After listening to their presentation, we were able to watch them feed the manatees. They eat several hundreds of pounds of lettuce a day. We also had a chance to pass around a manatee jaw bone and look at all their many molars, for grazing underwater. The most interesting thing we learned however is that their closest relative in the animal kingdom is actually the elephant. Just as the elephant's nose is really a very long prehensile lip, a manatee also has a long prehensile lip to grab and pull in food. We were able to watch them feed from above and below the water, and watching how they grab and bring in the food was the most fascinating part of the day.
It was a sweltering day out, so despite all the fun, we were wore out afterwards. So, everyone came on over to our house after the visit to the park and went swimming. The kids had a blast - splashing, having mock water fights using swords, and later using the water guns to spray everyone. Us moms relaxed on the patio, and Gary grilled hamburgers. It was the perfect ending to a perfect sort of day.
As all reports had stated, it was an amazing park, and you should definitely add Homosassa Springs State Park to your list. In fact, we would recommend it so highly that it's on our list to carry the family to see when they come down for a visit with us again. If you'd like to make a trip the address to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park is 4150 S. Suncoast Blvd. Homosassa, Florida. The park is open from 9 to 5:30, every day of the week. Of course, you can always call for more information at 352-423-5600. Entrance to the Park is $13 for adults (anyone 13 or older), $5 for kids (6 to 12), and free for those 5 and under.
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