This possum visits every night hoping for me to give him the next treat. It is amazing how this little creature gets all wound-up just when I get close to it, and runs for its feeding spot (on one of my bonsai) where he awaits for the next snack all excited. In the case of the photo, my little friend was eating fish sticks. Opossums are very interesting animals that will eat almost anything from cat's food to cat's vomit; they actually are pretty good at cleaning the mess left by my old cat.

Jase Parmer

Black vultures have to be one of the scariest birds I have ever seen. They are usually in groups much larger than the one shown in this picture feeding at a garbage dumpster behind a local Tampa Restaurant called Moe's. If you just drive by or walk by the birds, they don't notice you. But, if you approach them as I did with the camera they start flying one by one in a chain reaction as if the nervousness spread. Some of these nervous birds were even regurgitating (reflux of food out from their beaks) their food from the dumpster. Turns out, the regurgitation seems to be a behavior that both scares would be predators, and makes them lighter for a faster take-off and flight. A good article on black vultures can be found at Wikipedia.

I took this photo in Costa Rica while I was visiting the Manuel Antonio wild life reserve in Kepos near the coast of Costa Rica. While walking down a trail you can see many of these large iguanas and they seem to have no fear of beeing around humans unless you get too close. I spotted this one inside a trunk of a tree. all I wonder is how he got inside.

These Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) were caught at a tailgate party before a USF (University of South Florida) Bull's game against the University of Conneticut. They were being fed airborne potato chips by a fan at a parking lot near the Raymond James Stadium at Tampa. It is amasing how these birds communicate about a source of food and how in such a short time tens of seagulls aproximating a hundred joined the feeding frenzy even headsmashing like the ones in this photo. A good article on the Laughling seegull is here in Wikipedia. I had a hard time finding the exact place where these gulls were seen, the reason is that the parking lot where this was shot is located where the Tampa Bay Center Mall was demolished no more than a year ago (2005).

This smaller bird's name comes from its ability to imitate other birds and known to mimic dog's barking, pianos and sirens!. Its common name is the mockingbird, its Genus (scientific naming), the Mimus means to mimic or copy in latin. As it happens, the mockingbird is the state bird for several States:

• Tennessee
• Texas
• Mississippi
• Arkansas, and
• Florida

This bird was found wandering around the plants section of the North Florida Home Depot. A good reference to these birds can be found in the U. Michigan Museum of Zoology.

This is a white little bird that reached almost extinction in the 19th century because its feathers were used to decorate lady's hats for Sunday church. While this bird is similar to the white heron, it is different in that its peak is mostly black with yellow near its eyes, and while it is difficult to see in the picture, it has bright yellow pads. An interesting fact is that females of this species lay greenish eggs worthy of Easter egg hunt; you can read more about the Snowy egret at the Assateague Island website.

This monarch is a part of the Monarch Butterfly Breeding Program at the Seneca Park Zoo. This program was designed to expand the habitat of the monarch in Monroe County, New York. Inside the butterfly garden several types of butterflies can be seen up close and personal!

These gulls were spotted off the coast of Orcas Island in the Puget Sound. They were seen nesting on top of a guide for the Washington State Ferries. The female bird was tending to the nest while the male bird looked on. He became agitated as the ferries docked. These gulls had orange feet and yellow beaks. They are one of over ten gull species in vicinity of the San Juan Islands.

This crazy squirrel was cited close to the American Falls in Niagara Falls State Park. He had a sweet tooth and dug into a trash can to finish off someone's chocolate ice cream. Apparently, this squirrel has adopted a human diet and has rejected traditional squirrel food.

This is a rhinocerous beetle from the Andes; this is a very large insect that well earns its name as rhyno because of its horns. We encountered this critter while visiting the State of Merida in Venezuela at about 8,000 feet above the see level on a viewing site in the Paramo. This is a very good resource where you can find information about this and other rhinocerous horned beetles: Insecta Culture Rhino Beetles.