If you've ever driven to Florida on I-75, you've seen the billboards advertising Silver Springs, "Nature's Theme Park." Maybe you've even stopped there, although I think not so many people do anymore. I've been there a number of times, although not since the boys were much younger.
Anyway, there are several bands of wild monkeys living in the forests around Silver Springs. The story is that they escaped during the filming there of one of the old Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies and made a new home at the springs. Well, I've been reading a book called Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails, which tells the history of the various old tourist springs in Florida. It turns out that the monkeys were brought in during the 1930s when they added a Jungle Cruise attraction to the park. The fellow who was going to run the Jungle Cruise bought some rhesus monkeys and set them loose on an island in the middle of the river to add a little jungle atmosphere to the cruise. He didn't know that monkeys can swim, and it wasn't long before the monkeys escaped the island and moved into the forest around the springs.
The book, written by Tim Hollis, is pretty interesting, with lots of old photos. Quite a few of the old tourist springs are now state parks and the book has inspired me to try and visit some of these parks.
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