My new neighbor...

SunGlo

She moved in down the end of my street. I haven't seen her out of the burrow yet, but I'm guessing she's 12-15 inches in length. She's a gopher tortoise, a threatened species. I say "she" because there's a mound of sand about ten feet from the burrow which I believe is where she deposited her eggs.

I did manage to get a quick shot of her backed into her burrow. The opening to the burrow is about a foot and a half wide.

Have fun,

Phil

dbaker1221

she does not look very happy with you Phil.:D ..good capture

PrescottPhotog

SunGlo wrote:

She moved in down the end of my street. I haven't seen her out of the burrow yet, but I'm guessing she's 12-15 inches in length.

Without knowing the size you could think it is a pretty big critter from the markings. Do you think she is visiting or nesting ?

SunGlo

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Without knowing the size you could think it is a pretty big critter from the markings. Do you think she is visiting or nesting ?

They deposit 13-15 eggs not far from their burrow and I found a disturbed area near her home after the City marked the burrow and took a GPS reading.

It looks similar to when a cat uses the "outdoor facilities" only this cat would have had to be the size of a Florida Panther. The area is around 3 feet by 2 feet.

So, my guess is she's waiting for the blessed event. The young ones will then move into the burrow with her.

I'm now waiting for the City ESP folks and the Friends of Wildlife to come out a second time, this time to verify and stake the nest site. I could do it, but it needs to be official markings to keep the mowers from running over it.

PrescottPhotog

SunGlo wrote:

I'm now waiting for the City ESP folks and the Friends of Wildlife to come out a second time, this time to verify and stake the nest site. I could do it, but it needs to be official markings to keep the mowers from running over it.

Man, that sounds like a sophisticated operation.. nothing like that around here. Glad to see she is being taken care of.. GPS to boot, cool.

I'm trying to get someone to close off an area of our lake because the Great Horned Owl I found nesting is right in the open over a main path. I know that mom and baby will be spooked soon and I'm afraid she will abandon the nest before the baby flies.

The only thing that has saved them is the woods was flooded all winter (not normal and probably the only reason she nested there).. but the lake is dropping fast because of the heat and wind evaporating at a record pace, so probably by the end of the week there will be people and dogs running and barking and yelling right under the nest.. I haven't found a sympathetic ear yet to get them to close it off for just a couple more weeks. But I'm trying.

SunGlo

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Man, that sounds like a sophisticated operation.. nothing like that around here. Glad to see she is being taken care of.. GPS to boot, cool.

I'm trying to get someone to close off an area of our lake because the Great Horned Owl I found nesting is right in the open over a main path. I know that mom and baby will be spooked soon and I'm afraid she will abandon the nest before the baby flies.

The only thing that has saved them is the woods was flooded all winter (not normal and probably the only reason she nested there).. but the lake is dropping fast because of the heat and wind evaporating at a record pace, so probably by the end of the week there will be people and dogs running and barking and yelling right under the nest.. I haven't found a sympathetic ear yet to get them to close it off for just a couple more weeks. But I'm trying.

Wow, that's surprising especially since you're located right near a national park.

The Charlotte Harbor Preserve is just up the road from me and the manager is always working with our community. I guess it tends to be a way of life down here since everyone wants to live in Florida and there's only so much open land for the critters. The city, county and state governments are buying up sensitive land and turning it into preserves. On top of that you have the national parks and wildlife refuges like JN "Ding" Darling, Big Cypress Swamp, and of course the Everglades. Also, the Audubon Society runs the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. And all that's just the places in south/southwest Florida. It's nice to see someone actually cares.