Guess what!! We are camping in central Florida and look who lives right behind us!!
We call him Joseph, because the pattern on top of his shell kind of looks like Egyptian artwork and Joseph in the Bible went to Egypt. His full name is Joseph Lettuce Burrow.
He comes out to sun himself or eat. He usually has a reason for coming out so we try no to disturb him.
He moves by lifting himself up on his strong paws and then walks along.
We think he's cute when he eats because he has a little pointed tongue.
He is actually a "Gopher Turtle" and is on the protected list. He is called a Gopher Turtle because he burrows into the ground like a gopher. When we first got to camp one of the other campers told us that he likes lettuce so we fed him a few times and even touched him. We later found out that feeding him is not a good idea because when we leave he may forget how to find food for himself. It's also not a good idea to touch them so that they lose their fear of humans because not all humans will treat them with respect. Gopher Turtles live in colonys and are happy to share their burrow with other species in times of crisis such as wild fires or flooding. Joseph has some friends not too far from us. One day one of them came to visit Joseph. He was huge. We think it may have been Joseph's dad. Or maybe his grandpa. They do live to be 60-100 years old!
See you later Joseph!! 
Homasossa Springs are one of the aproximately 600 natural springs found in the aquifer that covers all of Florida and most of its bordering states. Springs occur when an underground water system comes though a crack in the limstone bed. The water is a constant temperature and much warmer than the ocean, which is why Florida is an attractive spot for the migrating animals. Manatees come up into the rivers and canals and can be seen all over the Tampa area. Now here is Shayna, to tell you more!! (C)
Manatees are slow, gentle mammals, sometimes called Sea cows. These peaceful planteaters live around the West Indies, Amazon River, and West Africa. Not all know to migrate to warmer water in the winter, such as Florida, so many die from the cold water of the ocean. Unaware motor boats going thru manatee areas often hurt the slow moving manatee. Even though they are not prey to any species, they are endangered, as they only have one baby every two years.
Like all sea mammals, manatees come to the surface to breathe. Their nostrils seal while they are underwater, and their lips can expand to eat. One of their relatives is the elephant, another is the dugong, which has a fluked tail like a whale, wheras manatees tails are rounded. 
Growing 10-13 feet long, manatees were mistaken as mermaids by sailors many years ago!
While we were at Homosassa, we also got to see other native Floridian animals- and one non-native Floridian resident, Lou. This Hippo was granted resident status and likes to scare people after he eats.
(We didn't get splattered, whew!) Great big hug out to Joyce and Barry for the trip, and please, turn off your engines, and don't feed or harm the manatees!
and lots of turtles.
snakesssss!!
and some not so pretty. 
We also see these signs every which way we look...
and not this.
Can you imagine, swimming in the river and one sneaking up on you like this?
(no thank you.)
We also got to play some African instuments and then went off to the Safari.
They let the animals out everyday to roam and make it look like a real Africa. They even have fake Bao Bob trees (below). They had a real one too, but then it became illegal to take trees from Africa, so these are fake.
Of course they end the day with a little safari boogie right before they take all the animals to bed for the night. All the kids loved the animals, Shayna's favorite was the Yeti ride (Everest-- a much improved version of Matterhorn) and the boys also loved the white water rapids.
Rock on!
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