GOPHER TORTOISES
The Gopher Tortoise is a protected species in our neck of the woods. You would find that hard to believe if you lived in my neighborhood. In my yard alone, we have so many digging new homes (the gopher tortoise will dig many burrows and travel among them) that I think we’ll soon have massive sinkholes. The “cave” – empty or not gives shelter to many a critter. In my view, they are the greatest examples of kindness and democracy or – dare I say – socialism!!
As I have said before they not the greatest lookers or even cute to most. But I find them adorable. The big and clunky ones who go lumbering through my yard at a fast pace - slowing down only to chomp down some grass - warm my heart as much as this little newborn here (those green things are blades of grass in sand.
They’ve been known to stop traffic because they WILL cross the road – especially in our area which is not highly congested. My heart is in my mouth sometimes because I’m afraid they’ll get run over – rather like my lad, Cherokee. He’ll sometimes sit in the middle of the road, oblivious to the odd car trying to get through, avoiding His Highness.
Gopher Tortoises do NOT belong in water. I say this with emphasis because it has happened that people - thinking they were doing a good deed- carried them to water and put them in. The poor creatures drowned!