Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Tortoise and the Scare: Scream Like a Girl

All animals have some warning system that protects them from harm. Rattlesnakes rattle. Bees Buzz. Dogs growl. Monkeys throw poop. If you're fast you can run away. If you're slow you can curl into a ball and use your specialized hairs to fend off an attacker like a porcupine does. And if you're a turtle you can pull yourself inside your shell and hide right? I went hiking after work in the Estero Aquatic Preserve and was walking while fiddling with my GPS when I heard a HHHSSSSSTTT - so I screamed like a girl. I was alone. I don't need to admit this, but my honesty has been called into question (I did yell at the pig - the macaw did call me a cracker. 99% of what I relay here is the truth) but for the sake of candor I offer all details here now. I screamed like a girl. It surprised me. It surprised the massive Gopher Tortoise who thought better of his simple hiss and hold your ground strategy and he pulled himself inside his shell.

I'd never heard one hiss that loud and that long and the fact that I almost stepped on this huge turtle didn't help. This place is known for a nice population of the endangered turtles. Their preferred habitat of sandy, palmetto/pine flatwoods is perpetually under attack which almost always ends up as a cookie cutter housing development.
They love to dig 5-10 foot deep burrows in the ground where they spend much of their time.


The rest is spent foraging for grasses, berries and the occasional flower or dead animal if it's rotten enough. They can't exactly chase it down and kill it.

Although they are on the Endangered Species List, they will most likely be removed soon along with Wood Storks and Manatee. This is not because their populations are increasing since each is suffering the opposite. Instead, the Bush Administration argues that the Endangered Species Act has not provided each species with sufficient protection and therefore should be downgraded to threatened to which they also argue offers the same protection. Confused? It's like removing a "School Zone" because cars aren't slowing down anyway. Basically developers will not have to concern themselves with hissing turtles and nesting birds and boaters can go back to speeding through the gulf.

So every tortoise I see is exciting and through my and MaLe's adventures we've seen a few.



(Kids - don't do this) This in on the Florida Turnpike. Speed limit 70 MPH. We passed it and I realized it was a tortoise. By the time we slowed and backed up an 18-wheeler had hit it.

This one chose a back road in Punta Gorda and enjoyed a better fate. I stopped and made sure he made it before I let anyone pass.

On my way out of the preserve today - I spooked a Marsh Rabbit who bolted into the palmettos. I didn't scream.

12 comments:

  1. Nice hike back through there. It's humbling that the hardest part of the hike is at the end after you figure "this ain't so bad". Congratulations now on to PT2...

    TCS

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  2. Oof - 4 1/2 miles is one thing. 15 miles for this next hike? I better start preparing.

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  3. hola!! i missed that scream when u were scared, tsssst, me surviving the festival here, 10 more days to go. and the same number of days for somebody's bday, :) miss you a lot

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  4. I just need to be sufficiently frightened and I will scream like a little girl for most things. But you know that. :)

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  5. Yes. I would have loved to hear you scream like a girl. Ya big sissy!

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  6. It wasn't a scream, it was an attempt to calm the tortoise using the ancient practices of the Seminole tortoise whisperers. Yeah, that's the ticket! Eh...since your honesty isn't actually in question, can we now refer to it as "screaming like a seasoned wildlife biologist"?

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  7. No it was a girly scream. There is a distinct difference between a startled scream and a deliberate, offensive "PIG *******". CyberRunt is the one take seems to take my honesty to task. Which is funny coming from someone who routinely steals office supplies.

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  8. I don't steal office supplies anymore. I EARNED those notebooks and pens. I was using them for work purposes. Stealing is wrong kids. Just like not telling someone something (like that you screamed like a girl at pigs) is like lying when you don't mention it. :)

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  9. wow.. that is so sad about the turtles.. but unfortunately very true..a the ESA is in it wonderful... da world we live in, the politics , da government... is all bull. Pretty much any building , road, highway construction, any project can be built as long as you write about, endangered species or not, there isnt enough mitigation....
    -it came to me as a huge shock to see the everglades, and the bad wildlife management, not enough underpasses for wildlife, fenced areas, what about those turtles, how will they get through, what about deer, such a huge beautiful area destroyed by roads, built with ut any concern for wildlife, huge habitat fragmentation.

    funny though biologist do this type of work.... because is da highest payer.... Im sure soon enough i will have to sell out as well. I went to some Environmental Planning consulting meetings... it doesnt even seem like the most exciting job, and i feel like the people that are in it themselves.... kind of frown upon the though that they got in the biology field ... first to do some good for the animals, and they end up working for many firms that just want to go by the law, and sometimes dont care at all about the habitat of the animals that are being hurt and put at risk.... I could go on about these all day....

    -Lily

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  10. Are you saying I sold out? It could certainly be argued that way - but the way I look at it - I'm working for an eco-tour - trying to ensure that a for-profit business has a positive affect on the environment and local people while educating the public about the grand Everglades ecosystem.

    I agree with the comment about Environmental Impact Statements. They teach us in college how to write these. If you want it done - you can justify anything if you are a good writer. sickening.

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  11. i was not particularly aiming the "selling out towards you".. because frankly i feel like i will be in that same position, if it gets food on the table, sad but true. I have nothing against Eco tourism, it can be good to educate people about what is happening out there, and maybe try to reach people to take some hands into it, Im not sure how much it actually helps, or how many people it actually reaches, but i guess as long as you can get 1 person environmentally concern out of 100, there is some impact.

    But then again is kind of like a zoo, some people don't even understand the purpose of why those places were first put there. they just go see the pretty little animal caged up and say "how cute" and go home with out having learned a thing.

    I actually like the way your tours are done because you do let the people know about what has been done, and the impact on the animals, the invasive species, plants brought in from other places affecting and out competing the natives ones....


    -Lily

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