Road Warrior

I was sitting on the beach when my big dog Glory brought me a little present. A baby gopher tortoise which she dropped in the sand at my feet. More... more

by Laura Fasulo

Title

Road Warrior

Artist

Laura Fasulo

Medium

Photograph - Photographic Print Or Canvas

Description

I was sitting on the beach when my big dog Glory brought me a little present. A baby gopher tortoise which she dropped in the sand at my feet. More likely she was about to make a snack of it but, seeing me, remembered her manners. These tortoises live on my property but I rarely see the babies since the are only 2 inches wide and high and are easily hidden by the grass. I suspect most of these little ones get eaten by predators including herons and hawks as well as my dogs, when I'm not around to keep them honest. Still some manage to survive and there are now several adult dens around my property. I decided to get a shot of him where he landed and for some reason he preferred to show me his hind side as he quickly ran away from us. (well, relatively quickly :) Since they are not water creatures and there are more dangers out in the open, I gave him a lift closer to his den. As the tortoise matures they lose their nice yellow markings and can easily be mistaken for walking military helmets policing the lawn for tasty weeds.

Uploaded

April 18th, 2013