Raccoons have even shown up in Holmes Beach, where a startled Mike Lalonde heard rustling noises in his back yard recently and went out to find one on the fence.

“It kind of froze when it reached the top of the fence and stared at me,” said Lalonde, who lives near the beach.

That was his first raccoon invasion.

But opossums, known to move from food source to food source rather than making nests, are regular visitors, probably munching on his wife’s vegetable garden, he said.

The wildlife population even includes “bat belts” in the West, Longboat and nearby in Palma Sola, Jeff Norris said.

“Bats are a major problem in the county,” he said.

Many of the creatures bring fleas with them, Norris added.

Other sightings, according to Czech, have included wild turkeys in Northeast Manatee, a coyote hit by a car near Lakewood Ranch High School and foxes spotted near Sarasota Airport.

Czech said that he was called to a car dealership in the Lutz area, that reported trouble with groundhogs.