The Wildlife in Florida

The wildlife is one thing that makes Florida an interesting stop and I'm not talking about Fantasy Fest or Girls Gone Wild. We see many animals that we never saw in PA. There are a huge variety of birds that we can watch right from the RV. Many of these animals, including the human kind, have been suffering with this recent cold spell.

Left are ibis and right is a Sandhill Crane.
We went to Blue Springs State Park to see the manatees. The park surrounds a huge spring where over 104 million gallons of warm 72 degree water comes out of the ground daily and flows into the St. Johns River. During the colder weather the manatees gather here in huge numbers. Even with these warm spots, more then 200 manatees have died in 2010 because of the cold. When the spring became a park in the early 70's the population was down to approximately 14 manatees. On the day we visited the count was 261 and on the colder nights there are many more. Most of these sea cows are gathered on the sunny side of the spring.

This manatee passed right under the viewing area along with many different species of fish. Even though they are very fat they are not well insulated against the cold.

Left is a heron and right is a turtle on a log and cormorants on the branch. We did not see any gators but there were signs warning that they are in the area and swimmers and divers should be cautious.

One of the humans who has suffered during this cold spell.

YES, that is an ice covered plant and Nanc with a sweatshirt, gloves and earmuffs. There have been three nights in a row of below freezing temps and December has been the coldest on record for the Orlando area. We don't remember the last time we had to sleep with the furnace on. If they are going to continue to charge those high winter prices they are going to have to improve the weather.

Next week we will be heading farther south to spend the holidays with Jack and Mary Lou in Jupiter. After that we have reservations for a couple weeks in the Northern Keys and a week near Fort Meyers. We then plan to go to the SKP park in Bushnell before heading to Louisiana for Mardi Gras around the first of February.