Baby Gopher Tortoise

I was digging out a drainage pipe near the garage before I began laying concrete and I hit this little guy. He was semi-hibernating in his burrow. He is a gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). We're named the little tortoise "Tiny Todd." He really didn't want me to see his face. He tucked his head way back into his shell.

Tiny Todd was barely a handful. Most of the other tortoises on the property are quite large. I moved him into some thick bamboo that I thought would be a more suitable home for him. . . and went back to work.

The little tortoise quickly moved to the garage where he began digging a burrow. He was moving back and forth quickly so I started thinking maybe we should call him "Scooter." Whatever, he is safe in the earthen-floored garage.

I always wonder where the tortoises families are. They appear to be mostly solitary creatures.

Gopher tortoises are vegetarians. There is plenty of green just outside the garage for the tortoise to eat, but he will likely remain mostly dormant until temperatures remain in the 80°s (29°C) for an extended period of time.

Today started out about 85° F (29° C) but we caught the tail end of the crippling ice storm that crossed the Deep South over the past days. Here, the storm only brought rain and some cooler temperatures. The coolest of the temperatures are forecast to come before daybreak on Saturday with low temperatures across Central Florida around 40° F (4½° C).

Ice Paralyzes South

Hundreds of Thousands without Power

Florida stays Warm

Photo Credit: The Atlanta Constitution-Journal.

These were some of the best online photos of the

ice storm to our north. Photo credits are included beneath the photos

along with links back to The Atlanta Constitution-Journal.

Photo Credit: Hyosub Shin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ajc.com