Sanibel is for the birds, and lizards, and snakes, and much more.

Wags and licks from your furry friends!  Phaedra and Zoe here:  But, we bet you'll never guess where, either!!  Or maybe you will...

Arriving on the causeway to Sanibel is always a time for celebration for us and 3 of us saw a leaping dolphin as we ascended the third bridge of the causeway.  The other one was watching the road and thinking "Bah Humbug"!

Boating Ballet

Sanibel Island Ligthouse from Cuaseway

Crossing onto Sanibel

Gulf beaches - WOW 

A great thing about living on Sanibel in a camper is that we have captive parents who feel guilty if they leave us alone too long.  That's how we get to run on the beach when no one else is around - guilt works every time!




The more we mope around, the greater the chances are that we get to go with our people.

Yeah, sometimes even Sanibel is COLD!

Then, there are always traditions.  For the past 3 years, we have gotten to celebrate our birthdays at the local ice cream/yogurt shop!  They have special cones just for dogs!  I turned 14 this year on December 27.  You know, a little treat once in a while is good for the soul - canine or human.
Joey's Custard shop is great for us.  It used to be Zebra's and was filled with zebra balloons, zebra paintings, zebra tables - it was cuter than Joey's but Joey's has tons more flavors.  We get to sit out side at little tables and really enjoy all the people who stop to admire how beautiful and cute we are!  Mama and Papa even sang Happy Birthday to us and people from Philadelphia and from Chicago stood around and clapped for us!  We are SO cute, how could they resist?

Zoe turns 8!

Sweetest 14 year old, ever!

Well, we thought you might like to hear what this year is turning out to feature.  The folks have named this season, “The Year of the Snake”!  Everywhere they go or whenever we walk on the Fire Trail behind our compound, we see snakes and lizards!  Mama goes absolutely crazy when she sees any anole or snake!  I thought people are supposed to be afraid of reptiles, right?  Well, not Mama.  She even gives a program about reptiles and amphibians AND has her own snake skins!!!  What’s wrong with that picture?  When we hear a slithering in the leaves, we move away quickly, unlike Mama and Papa who grab their cameras and stalk these long, slithering snakes.  I agree that anoles are pretty cute; I’m just not sure about snakes.

Cuban Brown Anole

Yellow Rat Snake peeking through palm fronds.

Another Yellow Rat Snake climbing palm.

Juvenile Cottonmouth aka Water Moccasin (a highly venomous and aggressive snake).

Just to put all of you at ease, this Water Moccasin does not live on Sanibel.  There are actually no verified venomous snakes on Sanibel at this time.  The last Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake was verified in 1996 and the last Coral Snake was seen around 2002.  So, no worries, right?  Except for the fact that this is the perfect environment for those two snakes.  But who's worried??? NOT ME!

Beautiful Black Racer

Juvenile Black Racer

And the birds!!!  Sometimes, we think that the birds are considered more beautiful than we are.  But, soon enough, we realize that's just not possible!

Juvenile Great Blue Herons

Black Crowned Night Heron with breeding plume (close-up)

Black Crowned Night Heron

"Brief" of American White Pelicans and one Brown Pelican - check out the two sizes!

Bad hair day for this little Great Blue Heron!

Great Egret in breeding plumage (look closely at the skin around the eyes.  This is the lore and during breeding turns green.)

Another Little Blue Heron (juvenile)

Little Blue Heron

Blue Wing Teal

Pileated Woodpecker

Reddish Egret

          

Surprise!!!  Another Reddish Egret!

White Morph of Reddish Egret

Close-up of Reddish Egret White Morph

Woodstork, Tri-color, and Little Blue Heron

Yellow Crowned Night Heron eating Blowfish

Wags and licks from your furry friends on Sanibel!  You'll be seeing us again soon!

Phaedra and Zoe