Unexpected Babies

For months now I've been watching the hind-parts of the sows and cows and wondering if they looked pregnant or not, or hoping that Mama Bee really isn't just that fat.  We've all been hoping to go out one day and see new babies.

Well, an unexpected thing happened this week.  There were some new babies!

Ms. Gophey had babies!

Ms. Gophey is a gopher tortoise (Rose named her) who lives in the spot we call The Fairy Pathway.  One year it had the most beautiful flowers growing there.  Because of an oak thicket and the orchard fence, her burrow is right next to what became the path.

The first time I saw her I was wandering what was to become the first grazing line with the goats.  Ms. Gophey did not like the goats, who were curious as to who she was.  She hissed at us and hurried into her burrow.  We didn't see her for a long time after that.  I think she probably moved into another burrow.  The stupid puppy dug her burrow out (and made her paws bleed in the process) a couple of years ago.  This made it so the burrow was right in the path.  I didn't think she would move back after that.

This year we've been seeing her quite a bit, especially if we are out in the afternoon.  She always hisses and scuttles down her burrow as fast as possible when she sees us.  Often we can see her just inside the tunnel while we walk by. 

So we were so pleased to see that she had three babies.  They were the tiniest, cutest tortoises I've ever seen.  We checked on them the next day and it seemed they got safely away to make their own burrows.