Pets/Wildlife

Nancy Boatwright was taking her dog out for an evening walk, and when she returned, this scarlet king snake was approaching her garage. Boatwright encouraged the non-venomous snake to head toward the grass simply by standing between it and the garage. A coral snake has similar coloring to a scarlet king snake. To help remember whether a snake is poisonous, think of this rhyme: “Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, won’t hurt jack.” Boatwright has lived in Quail Hollow for 33 years and also has seen deer, rabbits, racoons, opossums, pigs, turkeys and other critters.

Caden was rescued from a high-kill shelter about five years ago. Now, one of his favorite things in life is just floating around and dozing in the pool. Caden lives with his mom, Laurie Lunde, in Land O’ Lakes.

Rick Zelko spotted this little one taking advantage of the shade in his backyard in Land O’ Lakes.

Millie was born Jan. 15, 2020, and adopted from Best Friends Rescue in Georgia in April of last year. She is known for her ‘wiggle butt,’ as she gets so excited to meet new friends that her tail and whole body wiggle from side to side. She loves hunting lizards in the backyard, practicing agility, and hanging out at the Two Shepherds Taproom (and dog park), in Tampa. If she’s not doing any of those things, you can find her curled up in her bed, snoring very loudly. Millie lives with her owner, Kaylee Tegeler in Wesley Chapel.

The common mockingbird is a superb songbird and mimic. Its own song has a pleasant lilting sound and is, at times, both varied and repetitive. The mockingbird also is helpful to humans because it usually feeds on insects and weed seeds. In the summer and fall, it eats ripe berries. Sharon Thompson snapped this photo of a mockingbird perched atop the light pole in front of her home in Wesley Chapel.

Bentley is a 4-month-old Maltipoo. He loves lots of hugs and kisses, but most of all he loves his treats. Here, Bentley is ready to visit his granny and gramps at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club. Bentley lives in Wesley Chapel with his owners, Bob and Debbie Gibson.

Male and female bluebirds built a nest inside an old-fashioned metal pump in the backyard of Sue Forster’s home, in Lutz. Five little bluebirds were found inside the nest. As of June 7, all the babies had feathers, too. Forster said it’s been great fun to watch the babies as they were fed every day and to see them grow. The bluebird parents didn’t seem to mind the human interaction, as Forster said she checked the nest most days and it didn’t scare the birds away.

Basil Pepperoni Blethen was born in Louisiana and taken in by the wonderful group of people from the Southeast Beagle Rescue, who helped connect Basil to his forever parents, in 2018. He loves walks with mom and dad, playing tug-of-war, shredding paper, eating ice cubes, and his three feline siblings: Mauser, Rosie and Luna. If asked, Basil would rate his life 11 bones out 10 bones…can’t say it’s been too ruff! Basil lives in Wesley Chapel with his parents, Courtney and Chad Blethen.

Martina Vazquez, of Concord Station in Land O’ Lakes, said her Ring system told her that someone was at the door, but when she got there, no one was around. She looked back at her Ring footage and found this creature!

Elsa is about 6 years old and likes to climb this particular tree in the woods. She was only a puppy when she was rescued by her owner, Erik Texter, of Land O’ Lakes.