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I live in Manatee County. The river that separates Bradenton from Palmetto is the Manatee River. From time to time one sees manatees in the river. Boaters are asked to be cautious in certain areas of the waters, but sometimes these gentle giants get injured by boat propellors.
During the winter, large numbers of manatees can be seen at a power plant not too far from here. They come looking for warm waters and find them there.
This Saturday is the 60th birthday of our resident manatee, Snooty, who lives at the South Florida museum. He was born in captivity and brought to Bradenton when he was young. When we took our first graders on field trips to the museum, he was always the favorite. Of course, he was the only living thing in the place. After the party, I'll post some photos of the goings-on.
To see more Project black photos, visit Anna's blog.
On another note, this evening when I came home from church, I went to put my garbage can out by the street for pickup in the morning. When I moved the can, there was a small snake underneath it. On first glance I thought it was just a black snake or garden variety of some kind, but when I looked at him, his tail was shaking like a rattlesnake. He was only about nine inches long. As I looked at him again, he gathered himself as though he were going to strike, and strike he did. His mouth opened up as he got into position. Normally I would leave snakes alone, but I'm sure this was a baby rattler, so I went into the garage and got a shovel and killed him. Now I'm wondering where the mama is.
Often on the night before garbage day I go out late and put the cans out, but I don't think I'll do that again.
