Wildlife Part II—beyond bears

 Some unusual wildlife we have found in our yard, other than black bears:

A young king snake—originally in the pool and then placed in an empty lot across the street. They eat rattle snakes so are considered beneficial.

A legless lizard—or glass lizard because it will leave its tail behind if it has to. Originally on the cobblestones, then in the pool, and then released in the empty lot across the street. These things will eat snakes, too.

A soft-shell turtle. They can turn their necks around to bite you as you hold them by the shell. We fished it out with a skimmer net, and a kind neighbor removed it to the bay. You can eat them, but I'm not inclined.

A blue jay, which is not unusual, but this one was perched on the windshield wiper of my car. It remained there as I drove very slowly down the street and as I turned the corner, still driving very slowly to protect him/her. I was approaching a stop sign at a busy road where I could not have driven so slowly when the bird finally fell off, and to my surprise, flew away. Weird, right?

OK, no wildlife post is complete without a bear. This big guy was meandering in the driveway next door to our house recently, coming out of the woods to investigate a neighbor who was smoking freshly caught mackerel. The neighbor shewed him away simply by yelling at him, and he sauntered back into the forest. See previous post about bears actually IN our yard.

#30A #EmeraldCoast #SantaRosaBeach #FloridaPanhandle