Hard Rain

Humid Days and Hard Rain in Florida

We've finally had some hot, humid days and hard rain in Florida.  I'm reluctant to say that this is the beginning of the rainy season after two-plus years of drought. . . but we're hopeful that the weather pattern continues.  Today's unexpected downpour dropped 1.40" or rain (36 mm) in about an hour.

click on any images at Phillip's Natural World to enlarge

I had been out working on my new pond, installing the new nets (above) and preparing to lay some concrete when the big rain hit.  There was a less-than-20% chance of rain today, according to the National Weather Service. I still have a large section of concrete walkway to complete around the new pond.

Luckily I hadn't poured any concrete before the skies opened up.

 I was a little concerned about our little Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)—Scooter—because I was not sure if the dike I built around his burrow was sufficient to hold back the amount of water that was pouring through the garage toward the burrow (above).  These little guys tend to want to build their burrows in the most inconvenient of places.  Of course this endangered species was here long before humans so we need to make as many accommodations for them as possible.

Above I've labeled the dike, Scooter's burrow, and at the top right of image is the little guy trying to hide out under some crates.  Evolution has taught him to seek higher ground when he hears thunder.  Notice all of his footprints around the entrance to the burrow.

Above and Below:  I picked him up for these images, much to his dismay.  He tucked way back into his shell.

You can see images of Scooter when I first discovered him in February at this link:

Scooter the Gopher Tortoise's first photos

Below:  A close-up of the little guy trying to crawl under the crates to get away

from the fast approaching water.

Below:  A close-up of the entrance to his burrow.  The burrow—at present—doesn't extend that far into  the substrate below the garage.  In time, as Scooter grows, the burrow will become quite deep and extensive.  It will be shared by many other species that have a mutualistic relationship with the Gopher Tortoise like Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus).  Currently there is a Black Racer (Coluber constrictor) sharing Scooter's burrow.

Below:  Another angle of the fleeing Gopher Tortoise.

Below:  Another shot of where the burrow is located, by the back door of the garage.  Its location makes it hard for me to use this door for anything much. . . because I'm afraid of disturbing the tortoise.

Above:  The garage is quite full.  Its a tight squeeze to get mowers, tools, truck and car

all into this 20' x 40' garage (6 x 12 meters).  Of course we'd like something much larger and without

the earthen floor.  Its only American to want bigger, isn't it?

Above:  Had I been really paying attention to the wildlife I would have noticed that the Black Racer that shares Scooter's burrow had fled about 15 minutes before the rain began.  The snake—like the tortoise—is very tame.  He is now about 5-feet long (1.5 meters) which is about as big as he'll get.

Another shot of the hard rain this afternoon.

Above:  A kind of eerie shot of the lake (what lake?) . . . the dry lake after a rain two days ago.  It will take many, many more days like today for us to see water in our dry lakes.   The tree in the foreground is adjacent to the flood gauge for the lake.  The flood gauge has been on dry land for at least 3 years.  I left the tree to grow there just out of curiosity, to see how big it would get before/if the water returns.  The top of the gauge is 24.5 feet above sea level and the presumed flood stage for this lake.  A normal lake level would be about 22.5 feet above sea level.  Today the lake is perhaps 14-15-feet above sea level (mostly dry ground).

Another shot of the hard rain, above.  I had distributed about 100 pounds of fertilizer on the sunflowers and palm trees between the rains of the past 3 days.  I was very happy that it all got watered in.

Above:  After the rain.  The still unfinished new pond.  While the pond is ready for fish the pathway and landscaping is still a work in progress.  The concrete needs to be poured around the foreground of this image so that the pathway completely circles the pond.  It will have to wait for another day.

Above:  One of many mutant sunflowers blooming today in the garden.  I have been saving the seeds from these flowers and cultivating them.  They put out additional heads from within the first head of the sunflower.  Some of them now sport 20+ heads where a single head normally would sit atop the flower.