Announcer

Welcome to The Coolest Stuff on the Planet.

Matthew

Hi Rachel, how are you?

Rachel

I’m good Matt, how are you?

Matthew

Welcome to the podcast.

Rachel

Thank you, nice to be here.

Matthew

Yes, absolutely, it is nice in Studio 1A.

Rachel

It’s cozy.

Matthew

Today we are not heading too far from home, right? We gonna head South to our neighboring state of Florida, and we are gonna check out Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park.

Rachel

That is a long name, but it gets even longer.

Matthew

Oh, dear.

Rachel

This park is actually in Homosassa, Florida, which is in Northwest Florida, and its full name is The Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

Matthew

Geez. Okay, well, the No. 1 attraction in the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is, yes, wildlife. It’s a fantastic place to check out tons of native Florida wildlife.

Rachel

Some of the animals that you can expect to see at this long-named park are deer, cougars, river otters splash around in the Homosassa River.

Matthew

The river otters are great.

Rachel

And you will also see lots and lots of American alligators and American crocodiles, lazing about and sunning themselves, and not eating the people because they’re in special enclosures.

Matthew

Yes, exactly, and there are a lot of endangered species and vulnerable species also, like red wolves, Florida panthers, West Indian Manatees, Whooping cranes and Gofer turtles.

Rachel

And do you know – Actually Matt, I was going to ask you this surprise question.

Matthew

Okay.

Rachel

Do you know why Gofer turtles are called Gofer turtles?

Matthew

Because they pester Bill Murray to no end?

Rachel

Good guess, but not quite. They actually are burrowing turtles. They build tunnels and burrows, and so that’s why they are called that.

Matthew

Really?

Rachel

Also, another fun fact about Gofer turtles – Sorry, I can’t help myself. Native Americans used to use them as a form of currency.

Matthew

By the way, earlier we did say manatees.

Rachel

In case you missed that.

Matthew

Yes, the park serves as a rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned manatees. Now, these guys are pretty slow moving, and they often get hurt in speedboat accidents.

Rachel: And I mean, they are slow-moving like Matt said, and they are also big, that’s part of it, and so on average, they are about 10 feet long, about 1200 pounds, and apparently they have terrible eyesight.

Matthew

Yes.

Rachel

They tend to be near-sighted, so I feel like I can relate to a manatee because I am also near-sighted.