Pets/Wildlife

Ziggy is a cute, spunky 5-year-old Cavachon that loves chasing lizards, going on walks, and snuggling with his family. Cavachons are medium-sized, playful, generally happy, fun family dogs that love companionship. Ziggy came from Atlanta, Georgia, to stay with the Mercado family, temporarily, in January, and due to COVID-19, has been living with them for almost a year. The Mercados enjoy Ziggy’s company and have come to love him very much in such a short time. Ziggy lives with Stormy, John, Colby, Clayton and Cameron Mercado in Wesley Chapel.

Karen Whitenton, of Lutz, found this brown thrasher hanging around her yard for about a month, foraging for food and flipping bark mulch chips in the flower beds. The thrasher is about the size of a robin and known to be an exuberant singer.

Cookie is a 6-year-old Brahma chicken. She loves to eat worms and get into the garden. According to the Livestock Conservancy, the Brahma chicken is often referred to as the ‘King of all Poultry’ because of its great size, strength and vigor. Cookie lives with Daniella McClutchy in Lutz.

Marisol Fontanez snapped this photo of a hawk in her backyard at the Blue Jay Mobile Home Park in Dade City.

Bella is a 14 year-old purebred miniature dachshund. She was rescued when she was 2 years old from a backyard breeder who kept her in a cage all the time. Bella was very shy and scared at first, but over the years, she has learned to trust and love. Bella has taught her owners patience and acceptance. She has slowed down in her old age, but she is healthy and likes to walk in the yard and sleep in her soft bed. At dinnertime, Bella gets very excited, and squeals and jumps around while she waits for food in her bowl. Bella lives with her parents, Sarah and Paul Jackson, in Land O’ Lakes.

Janna Rolfe saw this gopher tortoise while on a walk in Meadow Pointe. Because these tortoises are a threatened species, Rolfe said she was delighted to see one.

Samoa (light-colored boy) and Fiji (tiger-striped girl) both were discovered, years apart, under a loading dock of a warehouse in South Florida, where Char Vinik worked. Samoa’s mother is Fiji’s grandmother. The loading dock seemed to be a safe place for stray cats to have their litters, but Samoa needed to be rescued from the nearby trash bin by office staff before collection day. Fiji was rescued when she was a tiny baby and needed to be bottle fed. Char and Steve Vinik are fortunate they could give these two a good home, and are thankful for their company and affection. Samoa and Fiji like to lounge on the patio furniture and now with the Viniks in Wesley Chapel.

On a recent windy day, Max Rathman found this tiny Cuban tree frog clinging to a leaf on one of the plants in his front yard. This kind of tree frog can be 1.5 inches to 3 inches long, and it typically eats beetles, roaches, spiders and other small invertebrates.