One sunny morning, while staying with a fantastic couple in Homosassa Springs launching a mini-farm in their garden, I was taken to the local wildlife park so that I could get a closer look at some of Florida's native creatures. First off, in the phenomenally clear spring water, I saw large grey manatees floating just under the surface. They are strange looking animals, most closely related to elephants, with a short and fat trunk of a nose and huge paddle-like tails. There were plenty to see after a few days of lower temperatures as they'd swum in from the Gulf of Mexico to bob around in the warm water.
Whilst the manatees were wild, the rest of the animals were captive, and most had been rescued. The most famous, a hippopotamus called Lou and non-US native, was a retired film star who was now an honorary citizen of Florida. A sign beside his enclosure warned all visitors to stay well outside of his 'spray-zone', the area in which his swishing tail could easily toss his fresh excrement. There were also alligators, who looked so motionless they could have been fake. I was saddened to see two red wolves pacing around a small enclosure, of which only 100 are left in the wild!
There were plenty of birds too, many in open pens but with no chance of escape as they had injured or missing wings. My heart split in two as I watched a little lone osprey, staring at the sky above him, jump determinedly and flap his one and a half wings, only to lift off about a meter and fall back down to the ground. A happily-ever-after Disney movie flashed before my eyes. I envisioned crowds of tear streaked faces glistening as they watched Oscar the Osprey soar over mountains into the setting sun, his bionic wing clinking and sparkling in the orange sky. But alas, such robotics are probably inaccessible for the Homosassa Wildlife Park.
Those children's films really did not prepare me for the cold hard lessons I would have to learn about this brutal world.
779 Rides
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| A Manatee at The Homosassa Wildlife Park |
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