"Hey, Dick, here's a gopher!"

"Gopher tortoise, gopher frog, or pocket gopher?"

"Gopher tortoise--and it's a baby."



It was early August and Jake and I were on a jaunt hoping to find a photogenic pale-throated anole (a green anole with a gray rather than a red dewlap). So far we had failed, but during our search we found several other interesting herps that ranged from six-lined racerunners to fence and scrub lizards. We were actually in terrain that was well-populated by gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus, so seeing one would not be too much of a surprise. But seeing a juvenile is not an everyday or every gopher colony occurrence.

"I'm on my way, Jake. Is it still visible."

"Yep. It's just sitting here eating."

And even after my delay as I wound my way through the prickly pear and cat's claw, the little tortoise, mostly hidden by grasses and brush, was still busily foraging.

With that single sighting what had until then been a very mediocre day suddenly became memorable.