Nudes in the Forest

The day started out as expected -- at work early, getting ready to meet our volunteer who was helping with gopher tortoises for the day. Once she arrived, we headed into the woods north of the Naval Live Oaks compound to search for a burrow that hadn't been located in a while.

Ann and I spent a beautiful December morning tromping through the woods until we got to the newest fire trail. Pine chips were still strewn across the fire break, as my boss prepared the area for a prescribed burn in a few months. Walking down the path towards the north shore, I was stunned to see a Ford Explorer parked along the coast. Was that a park vehicle? The only way to tell was to check the tags, so I approached the SUV to check for federal tags -- the driver had handicapped Florida state tags. While noting this, Ann and I witnessed the driver skinny dipping in the Sound. Not a normal sight in the middle of a national park. Rather than approach the naked man on our own, Ann and I called Law Enforcement to deal with the issue.

We never did find that gopher tortoise burrow -- maybe we were too blinded by the earlier sighting.

Gopher Tortoises and Sea Turtle Friendly Lighting

We spent most of today traipsing through the woods in an endless search for gopher tortoises. We did actually find one new burrow, about 15 feet off the trail, and not buried under fallen trees, Smilax vines etc.

We finally got in to talk to people about lighting! We've set a few ideas in motion regarding the whole project, and I'm starting to feel as if I know what's happening. Not really, but it's a start.

Gopher Tortoise Hunting

Jennifer, Monica and I spent most of today hunting for gopher tortoise burrows. It's alot of tramping around in about 1400 acres of forests with scrubby sand and live oak, saw tooth palmetto and a variety of other brush looking for holes in the ground with wide aprons of sandy soil. It's even worse than looking for a needle in a haystack! It was a beautiful fall day here, though, so it was nice to be in the woods. Temperatures are only rising to the mid-80s most days, and a north breeze is keeping things cool, even in the woods. The beach in the morning is positively chilly, at least for me!