Who Cut the Cheese?

She handed me this double scoop strawberry cheesecake ice cream in a sugar waffle cone. It was already starting to dribble due to the heat.  The taste was incredible but then suddenly, the flavour changed.  Jersey cow dung with a hint of rotting sewage had overtaken my wonderful cheesecake.


Lu had fluffed..Lu is a 4000 lb Hippo we had just photographed laying in the sun swishing his tail.  The ice cream hut was right behind his lair and the slight breeze was aligned perfectly. 


Our day was spent at the Homosassa Springs State Park located right here in Crystal River. This is a very famous place so I will not try to describe its history.  I have linked the text to one of their websites and I invite you to spend some time reading about its history.  Remember the TV show; 'Gentle Ben', well this was his home too.



A photographer won a prize for his version of this photo but I think Kaye's captured the meaning very astutely too.  Many of the birds and animals are 'rescues'.  It was sad to see a bald eagle with half its wing missing however the park volunteer interpreters explained that they release hundreds of animals back into the wild every year.

We were treated to a close up show by a young female manatee who had just been released into the wild and fitted with a transmitter to keep track of her over the next several months.  As the waters warm these Florida manatees will move up the Gulf Coast towards Mississippi and even Louisiana.   

As we sat to begin the interpreter's presentation on the manatee, a bobbing float came into the lagoon and slowly worked its way towards the underwater viewing platform called 'the fish bowl'.  As she spoke, the float moved towards us until a young manatee was right in front of us all and raised its head up out of the water over and over.  We all concluded that this was like being at Sea World and this young manatee was well trained.  Nope, it was a total fluke.  The interpreter had fun with the coincidence but at the end let the cat out that it was in fact a coincidence.  

We spent a good deal of time on the piers watching the adults in the wild, outside the confines of the lagoon.  Sea Kayakers were all over, plus tour boats and fishermen.  Volunteers in kayaks ensured the boats with motors kept their distance.

Check out the Walmart Greeter on the roof.  I was able to coax Kaye into the reptile exhibit but it was a short lived experience.  One of the larger species of snake moved and that made the Exit Sign the only important sign in the facility.  She did however brave petting a 15 inch alligator.  


Many of the birds are permanent residents of the park, likely by choice.  Food is plentiful and the habitat is obviously very safe.  Check out the picture of the Spoonbill sitting on top of the 25 cent birdfeed crank.  If another Spoonbill challenged him, he would bite the other birds legs and then chase him around the enclosure.  If you bought feed he would follow you and stay right in front of you.

By the time we worked our way around the park, Lu was having a swim and then came back on land for a feeding.  The elementary school children would have stayed and just watched him all day.  I wonder why?