….or Doo Doo Doo Lookin’ Out My Back Door.
That’s an exaggeration of course; no elephants or tangerines in our backyard. Or was it tambourines? (Is this a mondegreen; a case of misunderstood song lyrics?) Here are two of the most recent visitors to our back yard.
Buteo Lineatus
He/she’s been by to see us twice now. Well, maybe not so much as to see us but rather to salivate over the plethora of plump acorn-fed squirrels which frequent our yard. Did you know that a group of squirrels is called a scurrie? Do birds salivate?
Red Shouldered Hawk
Speaking of elephants, in identifying this turtle, who is actually a tortoise, I was to look for hind legs which were “elephant-like.”
I don’t know where turtles got their reputation for being extraordinarily slow. This fellow booted it across the backyard like it was four o’clock on payday.
Gopher turtle. A threatened species in Florida.
Also called gopher tortoise. A turtle is always a tortoise but a tortoise is not always a turtle.
Proper name of Gopherus Polyphemus. Back view (as if you couldn’t tell that)
Did you know that Gus the turtle at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History is a gopher turtle from Florida? And that he is 94 years old? Yup. No, he didn’t make it all that way on his own. A fellow bought him for five dollars in Florida in 1942 and he’s been entertaining NS school children ever since. Probably wouldn’t allow him across the border these days.
© Judy Parsons 2017.
Comment from Jon:
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To be pedantic. your shelled critter is actually a tortoise. I am sooooo envious of your exposure to wildlife down there. To think these critters are right in your yard!
Jon
Reply from Judy: Thanks Jon. Yes, he is a tortoise but turtle is so much easier to say don’t you think. He was big – the shell about a foot long. I hear they don’t travel too far from their nests so hopefully we will meet again. Re: wildlife envy – they don’t call it the nature coast for nothing. I’m still on the fence about meeting a gator though. And I’ve met the fire ants first hand. Oh the burning, Mommy, oh the burning.
BTW never sure what to do about the he/she thing when talking about animals. I tend to go by the sex of the person they remind me of.
Comments: email them to jgparsons@judypstickletrunk.com (I tried for hours on the phone with my web host and WordPress to solve my comments problem. No joy. They said they could try something different, no promises, for $80. I declined. If you want me to know what you think or to start a discussion, just email me your thoughts at jgparsons@judypstickletrunk.com and I’ll cut and paste into the post.)
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