Yuck. These guys are in the backyard a lot (well, they come to the front on trash day, too), and I hate them. Mostly because they aren't afraid of us. They were strong enough to team up and move Fleming's food around (we're talking forty pounds of dog food in a cooler). Tanner kept them at bay when he lived in the backyard, but we're on our own now.

And who knew they could swim.

I hate snakes. This corn snake was under the cushions of the patio sofa where my child was playing.

We have also had water moccasins galore, a couple pygmy rattlers (probably more than we have noticed--they are smaller than I expected), and tons of black snakes (which of course we leave alone so they can fend off these nasty ones). But still, they are all disgusting. There are a couple black snakes that live in the bushes outside my study window, and they sometimes give me an ugly, ugly surprise.

Ugliest critter EVER!

Still inundated by squirrels and raccoons, but who wants pictures of them, right?

We see the deer quite often (and more when the woods are flooded), but the owl was unusual. This one deer on the left came inside the fence.

Three were out this day. I hear they are very common a couple streets over. All I can say is...Thanksgiving Dinner.

This picture was taken in 2003, long before I got a wide angle lens, so I couldn't get a good shot of what was happening. The neighborhood association sprays the ponds for mosquitoes (thank the Lord), but they accidentally sprayed too much and it killed the fish, so these creatures showed up for dinner. There were white ones and gray ones and black ones, and they segregated themselves by color.

I heard scratching on the roof...about five gigantic, black vulture-like birds were planted up there. It was about creepy!

Lest you think the name dull, Tanner was actually the Director of Operations at MI6 in the early Bond films.  Our Tanner follows in the footsteps of our 007-monikered past pets:  James, Moneypenny, and Q.

Tanner sadly passed away. Some fun notes about his life are in August 2008.

Barbie® Doll & Tanner™ Dog

Not the most elegant Himmy around, James is still a runt.  He's about 4 pounds, mostly fur, and gets a lovely haircut like this a couple times a year.
He is certainly the dumbest cat we've ever had, but he makes up for it by being low maintenance and sweet.

This guy is not officially ours.  Mating season brings out the most disgusting of the Florida creatures.  Last year we had a similar one in our driveway.  This guy lives out back and mostly stays on his side of the pond.

I must emphasize that this is not a clear picture because it was taken from very, very far away. I maxed out the zoom.

Lest you think this is an anomaly, my in-laws get alligators in droves and we can usually see several from their kitchen window. One evening they counted seventeen at once.

More uninvited creatures.  Stephen the bunny didn't make it too long, but it is interesting to note that he could swim.

At right is just one of the regulars in the pool.

To Mom's dismay, these are still existing on the bathroom counter.  For more sea monkey blather, click for our Sea Monkey Progress site.

Also inside...
- Ladybugs
- Butterflies
- Pollywogs