6/5/11 Gopher Tortoises and Baby Birds

     I tried two new things today. The large pen our Gopher Tortoises are in has no grass left in it. The Gopher, (African) Spur Thighed and (South American) Red Legged Tortoises have eaten it all. So today I packed up four adult Gopher Tortoises in a cart and took them to a far end of the property where the grass grows thick. Three of them began eating as soon as they hit the ground. One did not eat at all. About 30 minutes later they were full and wanting to be in the shade.
          I also leared how to make baby bird food. There is a "Starter" pouder which you mix with water. It is kind of a very watery bean paste. The Logger Head Shrikes, Crows, Blue Jays, Wrens and Grey Cat Birds all liked it.
     I put fresh Water Hyacinths in the Red Eared Slider pool. The plant which is a very invasive exotic, is also great turlte/toroise food.

6/3/11 A Big Black Racer Snake

     Back to Nature Animal Hospital wanted me to release a five foot Black Racer Snake. For some reason this snake’s tongue would not go back in. I've never seen this type of injury before. The tongue was just hanging limp out of the right side of its mouth. But it was otherwise fully healthy and has been eating well. Also very unlike Black Racers this snake was very tame. It even let us (while being restrained) open its mouth to see what the problem was. When an animal does not fight you, that could be a sign it has been a pet or it is not feeling well. When I released it into some high grass it took off like a Black Racer should, letting me know everything was fine. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.