During one outing with my visitors we went to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, about a 45 minute drive north of Hudson. It was exquisite - a beautifully designed board walkway system meandering through tall shading trees that lead from one animal setting to another. The variety of animals there is astounding, from wild foxes and exotic reptiles to an amazing array of birds, all shown in their natural settings. The photo is from an underwater room where you can see the manatees enjoying their lettuce lunch. I realized how helpless these giant creatures are when I saw that they have no way of helping themselves to food. They can only float up to where the lettuce had been dropped and munch on it as it was falling. This entire area is home to manatees where they come into the warm springs to have their young. Sadly, so many are hurt by boat propellers because they move too slowly to quickly get out of the way. During my first week in Hudson I was fortunate to see a baby manatee swimming up my canal. What an amazing welcome to my new home!
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