they will attempt to go right
back where they came from.
We put them in a silt fence
pen long enough for them
to accept their new home,
which can take about nine
months to a year.” Several
more gopher tortoises had to
be moved from a heavy-metal
mine site in South Georgia.
“We were able to move those
on-site to a reclaimed area.”
Gopher tortoises are
social animals. “If you're
moving a social group,” said
Marylou, “you can relocate
more of them in a smaller
area together. But you
wouldn’t just put a bunch of
stranger tortoises in a small
spot. That seems to be a little
stressful for them. Whenever
a tortoise is introduced to
a new place, we always dig
each one at least two starter
burrows. They don’t usually
use it for long, but it’s there
if they wanted it. Basically,
the starter burrow seems to get them
thinking about digging themselves.”
These tortoises can live up to one
hundred years in captivity. “In the
wild, they can live from forty to sixty
years on average,” said Marylou. “I've
had to retrieve a couple of tortoises
that were found roaming around
neighborhoods or painted bright
colors. These are typically individuals
that someone tried to keep as a pet
but then escaped. Gopher tortoises
are good escape artists. People think
they’ll be good pets, and they're really
not. It’s also important to mention
that due to the protected status of the
gopher tortoise, keeping one as a pet is
not a legal option.”
As part of a fire crew and as
Georgia’s Gopher Tortoise Biologist,
Marylou’s responsibilities sometimes
merge. “When you’re burning, things
are moving. We always burn in such
a way that animals can get out. We
start at one side of a burn unit and
work to the opposite side. It usually is
a pretty slow process. We’ve rescued
tons of frogs, snakes and other things
crawling around. Every day is different.
Someone on the crew is always finding
something. They’ll yell over the radio,
‘We just found a diamond back!’ And
everyone will run over to see. We get
to see a lot of really cool wildlife.”
Last year, Marylou was working on
a controlled burn on private property
when she found a young tortoise. “We
sometimes help with these kinds of
burns when it’s protected land, and
we know there are gopher tortoises on
the property. When I found this young
tortoise, it had just started to burrow.
I picked it up and basically babysat it
until the fire was over. Then I took it
back to its little burrow.”
In January 2021, “An additional
burn crew will be added to focus
on the Ohoopee Dunes WMA and
another new management area
called Canoochee Sandhills Wildlife
Management Area in Bulloch County
that has some high priority gopher
tortoise habitats,” said Marylou.
In a real sense, the very things she
enjoyed as a child helped lead her into
her future. “When I was younger, I
never thought about the management
aspect of wildlife. I was just looking for
critters,” she said smiling. Ultimately,
the kind of work she hoped
to find eventually found her
as she kept doing what she
could where she was. Marylou
persisted even when it only
meant seasonal work and
going back to school to get
more education.
She didn’t just find
her place in work; she also
found her “people.” “I really
like being part of a group of
people that are passionate
about conservation and who
are willing to work really hard
to achieve these goals,” said
Marylou.
For parents hoping
to interest their children in
science and the natural world,
she had this advice: “Many
children don't get enough
outside time,” said Marylou.
“It’s difficult to appreciate
something that you don't
know exists. Children have
to first be made aware of
something. Then you can
teach them about its importance. I've
found that with children, the younger
they are, the more receptive they are
to wildlife. And not just the cute and
cuddly kind. You can bring a snake into
a second-grade class and by the end
of the hour, they all want to touch it
and know more about it. If you bring
a snake into a room full of adults, you
wouldn't get the same outcome,” she
smiled. “Exposure is super important.
If they don't know the gopher tortoise
is there, they aren’t going to care about
it.”
Play. It’s simple. Tell your children
to go outside and play. Better yet,
go outside with them. Take a walk
down a dirt path. Listen to birds sing.
Go down to the river with a dip net.
Climb into the branches of an old tree.
Perhaps then, it won’t be so difficult
for us to discover our value and place
in this beautiful world. Whether we
save gopher tortoises and their habitat
like Marylou or write articles or build
houses or care for the sick or teach
school, the natural world can help us
find our place and the part that is ours
to give.
64 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE