Page 5 - FINAL fall 2014 magazine

By

Sue and Roger Kolar

It has been a busy season in the Tortoise Habitat.
Maxine laid 16 eggs in May, and then Willie laid eight
eggs in June. In July while no one was watching, a
mystery tortoise laid another four eggs. We have sev-
eral suspects, but Mae is on the top of the list because During the summer,
she was lurking or possibly recovering in the area! We volunteers noticed that
haven’t had multiple nests since 2010. Maybe it’s the Hugo’s plywood bur-
organic kale or the nice weather.
row was sagging from
In September, rain and the heavy dirt
we weighed and piled on top. Also,
measured the Hugo started to dig at
tortoises. The the base of the support
good news is wall, undermining it Another one bites the dust.
Photo by Pat Williams
that all of the further.
tortoises have
grown since last Hugo is too big to fit into the plastic tubes used in
Lucie has explaining to do. year. Lucie, the Max’s and the girls’ habitat, so a Habitat Volunteer,
Sue Kolar
Photo by Lynn Thigpen Sue Kolar
tiniest tortoise Mike Evans, came up with the idea of using a 55-
weighs a little more than 6 pounds. Max weighs slight- gallon metal barrel to make a burrow. Mike meas-
ly more than 14 and a half pounds, a gain of 7 ounces. ured Hugo and drew up plans. Carla Wise, BLM
Wildlife Biologist, approved the plans and Mike

Some volunteers constructed
were amazed to the barrel
hear that Max burrow.
gained weight,
since he sometimes Ten vol-
sleeps through unteers came
mealtime. He must Sue Kolar out to help
be enjoying the with the dual
plants that are tasks of in-
growing in his hab- stalling the The Big Dig in progress.
itat, or perhaps he’s new barrel Photo by Sue Kolar
having pizzas de- burrow as well as keeping Hugo away from the
livered after hours! work area while the Tort Team dug up his old bur-

And of course, row and installed the new one.
Hugo, the big boy,
is still the largest at Entertaining Hugo turned out to be much easier than
32 pounds and 3 we thought.
ounces. Photo by Lynn Thigpen (Continued on page 17)
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