Saturday Photo Hunt - Protect(ion)...

After attending a college baseball game earlier this week, I had decided that my entry for this week's theme would include a photo collage of protective baseball gear - batting helmets, chest protectors, leg pads, and even the foul ball net behind home plate. Then this interesting critter wearing his own form of protection wandered through Pollywog Creek... Though it's not my typical colorful offering, I could not resist these photos of a Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) - a threatened species in Florida requiring protection. The gopher tortoise (often incorrectly referred to as a gopher turtle) is North America's only native tortoise. Most gopher tortoises live in the dry sandhills of Florida, but they can also be found in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and extreme parts of South Carolina. A face only a mother could love, don't you think? When I discovered him, this gopher tortoise was in the shade of an oak tree at dusk, and because I could not move or touch him, I had to be content with the lack of good light for a quality photo...and by morning he was gone. Hugs and thanks to TNChick, for her gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt every week. For "protect(ion)" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is "walking".

Technorati tag - PhotoHunt