Identifier: americannaturalh02hornuoft (find matches)
Title: The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937
Subjects: Natural history -- North America
Publisher: New York : C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ut 1,200 pounds. In the summerof 1903, a fine specimen about eight feet long was capturedunder a state permit in the Banana River, Florida, andplaced on exhibition in the New York Aquarium. Fromtime to time others have been exhibited at various watering-places along the Atlantic coast. The Manatee never comes upon land. Usually its homeis chosen in the upper waters of some deep, quiet tropicalriver, above the influence of the tide, where there is an abun-dance of Manatee grass and other water plants acceptableto it for food. It is herbivorous, and because its molar teethare weak and it has no front teeth, it is compelled to live uponaquatic plants which are tender as well as nourishing. Itsfood is always eaten under water, and when at home itspresence is generally revealed by the bits of plant stems andgrass blades which escape and float to the surface * In cap-tivity, the Manatee feeds upon lettuce, cabbage, cannaleaves, celery tops, water-cress, spinach, eel-grass and oceansea-weed.
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THK MANTATI:!; (Trirhrrhiis liilirdslris).Drawn by J. Carter Beard from a living specimen in the New Yorli Aquarium. THE MANATEE IN FLORIDA WATERS 163 Even to-day the Manatee is found in Florida, in theBanana, Sebastian, St. Lucie Rivers, and also on the westcoast of Florida, from Marco Island down to Cape Sable.Its wanton destruction is prohibited by state laws, underpenalty of $500 fine. Occasionally, however, a specimen isnetted alive, under a state permit, for exhibition purposes.Two of the great cold waves of the past ten years unfortu-nately killed several individuals in the Sebastian River. Far-ther south it is found about the Isle of Pines, Cuba andalong the east coast of Mexico and Central America, whileanother species occurs in South America as far down assouthern Brazil. The flesh of this animal is light-coloredand both looks and tastes like lean fresh pork. As the result of several years of inquiry, I am convincedthat, strange as it may appear, in Florida the Manatee reall

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