Taking Our Best Shots of Florida Wildlife

By Bob Sanchez

Seven members of the SCC Photo Club headed to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. With one enormous exception, all the fauna are native Floridians.

We snapped shots of birds such as flamingos, roseate spoonbills, wood ducks, various types of pelicans and birds of prey: owls, osprey, a Cooper’s hawk, a black-capped nighthawk, a caracara, and more. Of course, there were the familiar alligators and manatees. Oh, and a safely fenced-in panther.

Weighing in at three tons, the park’s only non-native resident was impossible to miss. Lu (for Lucifer) the Hippo, was born in January 1960 in the San Diego Zoo. Lu moved to Homosassa in 1964 and became an honorary citizen of our state in the 1990s, by proclamation of then-Governor Lawton Chiles.

We each paid $13 for admission and sprung for an extra $3 for a delightful round-trip boat ride to the Park where we found most of the animals. It’s a great place to bring the grandkids and spend a couple of hours enjoying nature. For more information, visit “homosassaspringswildlife.com”.