Tortoise by the Road

Gopher Tortioise
Tequesta, FL
March 17, 2024

 As I ride my routes on my bike, I look for wildlife. I always see a lot of squirrels and rabbits, but I especially enjoy seeing the tortoises. They are like small armored vehicles sitting by the site of the road and generally they do not get too excited by my presence. 

I enjoy counting the sightings on my rides, but all too often the count is zero. On St Patricks Day, I counted four tortoises during the ride. One might have been counter twice. The one in the image was the most fully exposed and it even earned a turn-around to go back for another look and a picture. 

Watching for the wildlife gives my mind something to do on the rides, actually seeing wildlife makes the rides even more enjoyable. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL