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Manatees end up in Florida woman's yard, munch on grass

ST. PETERSBURG — Heavy rain brought a big surprise to a Florida woman’s back yard.

Nancy Smith, who lives near St. Petersburg, posted pictures and video on her Instagram account of manatees that ended up in her back yard after water rose above the seawall.%

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She posted the first video on Sunday, with the caption, “OMG one of the coolest thing I've ever seen happen... right in our own backyard! Squeeeeeeeel! Because of the rain, the tide was up over the seawall about a foot. The water was moving around and I thought maybe I'd get lucky and see a manatee. I couldn’t believe it! I saw TWO!! Then one pulled itself up over the seawall and started snacking away on our freshly mowed grass! I am so happy I recorded.”

The manatees came for a visit again on Monday.

“It happened again,” Smith posted. “Rain made the water rise over the seawall even more than yesterday, and a manatee just climbed up to munch on our grass!”