A couple of months ago, this tiny gopher tortoise was found with a bad eye. Sand had probably irritated it, so we treated it with some eye drops to make sure the baby was ok. Gopher tortoise babies usually hatch in the fall, so this one was probably about 8 months old. We named her Gypsy and kept her in an enclosure with our resident gopher, Gophina, who's about 6 years old (they dont reach adult size until age 12 or older).
Gypsy acted like a typical little sibling. Gophina would bob her head at the baby and sometimes head-butt her. We scolded her, but after a few days realized that it was all due to Gypsy egging her on. The two seemed to have a love-hate relationship. Gypsy was released today close to where she was found. Does Gophina miss her? Maybe in a small way, but I'm pretty sure she's happy to go back to being the spoiled only child! And I'm sure Gypsy is happy to be free again to roam!
We were very fortunate this year to have two leatherback sea turtle nests on the island. Almost all of our sea turtle nests are loggerheads. Since it's so rare to have a leatherback nest, tons of people showed up to watch as volunteers excavated the nest. After the hatchlings hatch and then emerge from the nest, they head down to the surf. A couple of nights later, a volunteer from the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch digs up the nest and counts the number of eggs hatched and unhatched, and babies that hatched but did not live. Hatchlings that failed to climb out of the nest but are still alive get to hitchhike down to the surf where they're released. If you'd like to see a sea turtle nest excavation, go to www.ameliaislandseaturtlewatch.com, and then click on "excavation schedule" on the left hand side. The season is coming to a close, and we are happy to report 154 nests this year!
