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See Snooty
the Manatee at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton
Almost 60 years old, Snooty is the world's oldest manatee in captivity
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Snooty
the Manatee
Snooty is an internationally-famous manatee raised
in captivity longer than any other manatee in the world.
He lives at the South Florida Museum and Bishop Planetarium in
Bradenton just north of Sarasota.
Snooty was born in 1948 in Miami. His life
has been anything but normal.
His mother
was injured by a boat shortly before Snooty's birth, so he
had to be taken by caesarian from his mother,
who died six hours after the 60-pound calf was born.
Snooty began life
inside a tank. Back in the 1940s, that was a dangerous place for
any baby manatee to be.
Until this time, every manatee ever born in captivity
had died before reaching maturity.
In 1949, Snooty (called Baby Snoots) was moved to the town of Bradenton and
the South Florida Museum. For the next 17 years his existence was hardly a
happy one, living alone in a small cramped tank.
His living quarters improved slightly
in 1966 when the museum expanded and Snooty received a larger 12 by
20-foot
pool.
Then, in the fall of 1993, Snooty
moved into much more expansive
quarters, a 60,000 gallon, 40 x 25-foot pool with both
deep and shallow
ends.
The pool was part of the
new Manatee Education and Research Facility, which features above
and below water viewing. Also on display are exhibits on manatee habitat,
physiology and anatomy.
Perhaps the greatest change for Snooty was that, to meet federal standards,
he was given the opportunity for the company of another manatee for the
first time
in his life.
Ironically, people had often joked that Snooty might not know he was
a manatee. For virtually all of his life, his only companions were humans.
He's had a number of pool-mates, including Newton, Mo, Palma Sola,
Desoto Park, Salvador and Angelito. All were rescue animals that were
eventually rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
Today, the nine-foot long, 1,000-pound plus Snooty appears to be truly
enjoying life as the Museum's star attraction. He is Manatee
County's mascot and a
standard part of the local classroom curriculum for grades 1
through 3. Over a million visitors
have
seen
him.
In turn, Snooty shows keen interest in his
visitors, sometimes using
his flippers to draw himself closer to a person at the edge of his
tank.
Snooty's
annual birthday party has become a major area tradition. His birthday
features free
cupcakes, punch and a birthday card contest. It is held the Saturday
closest to July 21,
his actual birthday. The public is invited.
On a normal day, Snooty eats between 80 and 100
pounds
of food. His
diet includes
heads
of romaine lettuce,
carrots
and apples.
He also receives snacks of monkey chow and vitamin supplements.
Contact info: The South Florida Museum hours are 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; noon to 5p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.
The museum offers manatee programs daily at 12:45 p.m.,
2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Snooty's feeding is a featured part of the show.
The museum is located at 201 10th Street West, Bradenton. For information,
call 941/746-4131. www.southfloridamuseum.org.
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