My next stop en route to the southern Georgia sees me stop at Reed Bingham State Park. After locating the small trailhead, I park the jeep and head out to explore the Gopher Tortoise Trail, which is only a short walk in the woods. The ecosystem is subtropical here, with palmettos, pine trees, and Spanish Moss all over the woods.
The trail makes a short half-mile loop through the area and the surface is a combination of sand and dry earth. On the first half, I don't spot any burrows, but returning on the other part of the loop, I finally locate a few. The endangered gopher tortoise digs out large holes in the sandy soil and uses them for shelter. When they move on, other creatures take up residence. I first saw these holes while visiting a set of Native American mounds in western Georgia a couple of years ago and I was later surprised to learn their source, but now I know exactly what I'm looking for and locate about five on the walk back to the jeep. I don't see any of the shelled construction crews though. Perhaps they have retreated deeper into the den or have simply moved on for green pastures.
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