piebald deer – Dina's Wildlife Adventures

I had such a clear view of the fish that I felt like I was snorkeling without getting wet. Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park has an underwater viewing bowl. It was heavily damaged during the hurricanes in 2024 and was just recently renovated and reopened. The glass was so clean and unscratched and the water here in the springs is also clear as I watched them swim close to the windows.

At one point the fish were parting and a wild manatee came right up to the window.

Up on the dock that is over the river, I could see people kayaking with the manatees. There are roped off areas where the manatees can escape to if there are too many people around. There are also volunteers in kayaks that make sure that everyone is respectful of the manatees.

One with an injured tail goes floating by the dock. The tail was probably hit by boat motors.

A Mom with her young one was also near the dock. The water in the springs stays warmer than out in the open water in the gulf so manatees come here in the winter to stay warm. The Wildlife Park also rehabs injured manatees until they are well enough to be released.

Is he trying to hide under that tiny leaf on his head???

Most of the animals here are injured or displaced wildlife. This beautiful piebald deer was found as a baby without a Mom and was raised here. She was looking up at me as I stood on the raised deck over the huge deer area. I found some information on piebald deer that you can read here. Less than 2% of white tail deer have this and most with extreme white fur don’t survive long. Hopefully she can live out a long life here.

It was a beautiful morning in mid-January when I was at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The woods were full of fall leaves (we usually go right from fall in early January to summer in mid-March).

It had been really cold for 2 weeks so I was hoping to see some wild manatees near the boardwalk and bridge. As I came around the corner on the trail I saw these big floating potatoes right under the shorter bridge. I took these with my phone since they were so close. They were all huddling together to keep warm. The natural springs here keeps the water warmer than the gulf so in the winter they come in and hang out close to the springs. It’s funny to watch them roll over. Did he want a belly rub?

They were all along the boardwalk as well but some of the areas were tough to get a picture of due to the reflections of the trees.

A Mom and her baby swimming by the dock.

A manatee mosh pit.

Just outside the park you can swim with the manatees. There are volunteer park rangers that patrol the area to make sure the manatees stay safe and no one enters the “manatee only” roped off areas along the river. You can see them from the dock inside the park and this ranger had a manatee come up and inspect his kayak.

You can see the fish in the shallow parts of the river. The water here is so clear.

The park also had some flamingos that are fun to watch, even when they are sleeping.

Red foxes are really shy and this one came out from hiding for just a few seconds.

This is a piebald white tailed deer, a rare genetic mutation causing white patches on otherwise brown fur. They are found mostly in northern Florida and less than 2% of the deer population has this. This one was a baby that was abandoned by his Mom and was brought in here to live safely with other deer. I hated taking a picture through the fence but I’ve never seen one in the wild and she was not moving from the fence even though she had a huge place to roam.

Lu, the former actor in movies and tv shows, turned 65 this month. Yes, Lu is a hippo. He is retired and resides at the park. I couldn’t find any specific named movies or shows he was in but one article noted that he was on the Art Linkletter Show which aired in the early 60’s. You can read about him here.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

Tag: piebald deer

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