Pets/Wildlife

Fran Sieradzki snapped this photo of a black-bellied whistling duck and its duckling, behind her home in Seven Oaks, Wesley Chapel. These ducks have high-pitched whistles as they travel from feeding fields to roosting sites. They often perch in trees and on logs over water. The whistling duck is found mostly in wetlands, in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina.

Roo was found at a community park in Tampa. He was less than a year old, underweight and in pretty rough shape. The Wantuch family tried to find his owners for a month, but with no luck, they adopted him. He is named Roo (the ending of kangaROO) because his ears reminded the family of the animal, and he would bounce around in the grass. Roo welcomes Jackie Wantuch and family members home every day with a smile on his face — literally! Roo lives in Lutz.

Craig Mellinger loves nature photography. This squirrel photo was taken at Lake Heron in Lutz, where Mellinger lived for almost 15 years. Mellinger recently moved to Dade City, where he also hopes to take many pictures.

Varla is a 10-year-old male green iguana, which is pretty old for an iguana. His favorite foods are grapes, watermelon and a nice tossed salad. Varla does not like to be bothered when he is eating. His favorite music is anything other than the mariachi music the neighbors play, which seems to annoy him. Varla dislikes the fat guy who feeds him and cold winter months. His favorite game is slapping people with his tail. Varla’s loving owner (and the fat guy who feeds him) is Christopher Hanson of Dade City.

Kevin Durkin tracked this limpkin all over the Learning Gate Community School campus in Lutz before he got the right photo. The limpkin only had one foot, but seemed to be managing just fine.

Marley is an 11-year-old Morkie that was adopted as a very young puppy when her first family determined they could not care for her. She is very popular in her neighborhood and loved by all of her human siblings. Marley is spoiled with roasted chicken and peanut butter treats. She enjoys chasing lizards, long walks, slobbery kisses and playing with socks. Marley lives with her furever family, David and Nikki Drake, in Wesley Chapel.

Laura Button drives by this pond in her neighborhood in Land O’ Lakes several times a day and is always on the lookout for wildlife. Every once in a while, Button sees this particular gator. She said she is certain the gator was just thanking God that recent bad weather didn’t come visit the Land O’ Lakes area.

Quiche enjoys dressing for Halloween and other holidays. He lives with Kathy and John Draper, and his recently adopted dog sister, Jade, in Land O’ Lakes.

In the spirit of Halloween, Marisol Fontanez wanted to share these pictures of crows she took at her home in Dade City, at the Blue Jay Mobile Home Park. Most people call a group of crows a flock, but it is more poetically known as a ‘murder of crows.’

Three years ago, as a very sick stray, Richard Parker found his family. After months of trying to locate his owner, Richard Parker moved his way into his owners’ hearts. He is named after the Bengal tiger in the movie, ‘Life of Pi.’ Valerie Sercu and her family cannot imagine life in Wesley Chapel without him.