Cheap thrills on my Florida vacation: fauna

I dipped my toe into the Gulf of America but due to Red Tide quickly skedaddled from there

Instead I spent a lovely afternoon at the U Florida Gainesville Natural History Museum and its butterfly garden. I got a taste of how the exhibits are always, at least a little, about climate change and maintaining our biodiversity. Biodiversity is great, but when the concept is used to severely constrain the space used by humans on our planet, it can be seen to be a ruse. The butterflies will even alight on you!

Another afternoon was spent at Homosassa Springs, a state park with a zoo of injured Florida wildlife and a donated 65 year old Hippo, who was born and bred in California but refused to act in Hollywood films.

Below is the other side of the wing you just saw

At Homosassa my manatee photos did not come out well but you can still get a feel for this lovely spot and its odd man out hippo.

The blue heron can be seen in Maine, too. And we have bears this size, which have (during 3 separate seasons) managed to rip out bird feeders screwed into my house, and bent a shepherd’s crook to get the birdseeds. Great big old scary things but they won’t eat you: they are vegetarians. I no longer feed the birds. Don’t get between mama and a cub.

This pelican kept shifting its egg around with its foot

The Florida cougar

The bad actor hippo

---