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Poetter Hall was purchased by the SCAD founders in March 1979. Classes began in September of that year.  
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Trivial Pursuits

Trivial Pursuits
 
Florida park offers wildlife viewing


 


By Monique Bos
Published: Friday, August 5, 2005

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, located approximately five hours from Savannah on the Gulf Coast of Florida, offers visitors a chance to view a variety of native wildlife, including bears, panthers and the endangered West Indian manatee.

Visitors to the park take a leisurely boat ride down Pepper Creek to the Homosassa River, while volunteer guides provide information about the area’s history and point out local wildlife, such as turtles, birds and alligators.

The park is located on the site of a natural spring that keeps water temperatures at 72 degrees all year. West Indian manatees frequent the area, and the park also serves as a rehabilitation center for injured manatees, ensuring that visitors can see these marine mammals any time of year.

During summers, manatees often migrate to Georgia and the Carolinas, and have even been seen as far north as New York. They spend the winters in the warmer waters of coastal Florida.

An underwater observatory allows visitors to view the manatees, whose population has been jeopardized due to casualties from boat propellers, as well as an array of salt- and freshwater fish native to the area.

The park also offers a thorough overview of animals indigenous to Florida. A boardwalk takes visitors through a number of habitats that house bobcats, panthers, black bears, gray and red foxes, gopher tortoises, river otters, alligators, owls, falcons, bald eagles, pelicans, cranes and a variety of other birds. A reptile building houses venomous and non-venomous snakes and a young American crocodile.

The only non-native animal in the park is a hippopotamus named Lu. Prior to its incarnation as a state park, the area housed an exotic animal park. When the state acquired the land, all the animals except Lu were re-homed. A group of citizens from Homosassa Springs successfully petitioned the state’s governor to make the hippo an honorary Florida citizen, thereby allowing him lifetime residence at the park. A former film star, the 45-year-old hippo performs for visitors at a daily Alligator and Hippo Show and plays with the ducks who share his pond.

Wildlife encounters and manatee shows also are conducted daily.

Located on Route 19 about 75 miles north of Tampa, Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park is open 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. every day, with the last tickets sold at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $9 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-12. A 20 percent discount is available to AAA members.