#herpiscape

Me with one of the more than fifteen gopher tortoises in our yard. Just eighty years ago Miami had gopher tortoises everywhere. My father played with them in his yard when he was growing up. Make your yard into a lab, a safe space, a wildlife refuge. When we moved here over twenty years ago there was only one abandoned tortoise burrow. We let the over mowed ground heal by planting natives and allowing volunteers to grow and spread. The gopher tortoises and all their #commensals come now. All around you might get developed but you can make an oasis and maybe the idea might catch on with your neighbors. Increased ground cover cools off your yard, encourages floodwaters to drain and will block your home from hurricane winds. Not to mentioned the extensively studied benefits of nature on emotional well being and the development of happy well adjusted children. #belikewalden #makeamericawildagain #floridacorridor #floridawildlifephotographer #wildlife #sciencemarch #forestsarecool #makeyouryardintoapark #snakesafespace #imarchforthem #unless #savethetruffalatrees #gopheruspolyphemus #citizenscience #climateaction #herpitology #herpiscape #sciencemarchmiami #floridawildlifecorridor (at Palm City, Florida)

Snakes on a date. Two black racers finding love in Florida. #herpitology #herpiscape #plantapark #blackracer #floridasnakes #sciencemarch #floridaherping #floridaherps #sciencemarchmiami #snakes #reptiles (at Palm City, Florida)