Tortoise time!

I think that I have mentioned the fact that we can have all four seasons in one day? This last week has certainly proved that, and if that is true, then we have had four years worth of seasons in the last few days! So, yesterday we decided that as the weather was being kind, the wind had dropped to a tiny tickle and the clouds were fluffy and benign, we would go for a little flower spotting. The fields around us are beginning to burst into colour, even though they have been battered with the rain and freezing wind that we have had. Our bougainvillea took the full force of the wind one night and several branches stand naked now.

Next to the road, bright and beautiful.

So, timing our drive so the the flowers would be open towards us, (and the sun), we set off along the back road that leads to Saldanha, and we were not disappointed! Patches of colour in the form of bokbaaivygies (Dorotheanthus bellidiformis) and rain daisies were flowering next to the road, and the vivid red malvas were beginning to open.

Like jewels in the sand!

As I got out of the car to take a close-up, I saw a tortoise sitting under a bush, so I took a photo of 'him' too! In fact, we have rescued a couple lately, they insist on crossing the busiest roads that they can find and then stopping when they feel the vibration from the traffic. I have learned to pick them up by their sides and hold them at arm's length as they have a habit of wee-ing! Also, I read somewhere that if you put them back where they came from, they simply start the crossing all over again, so now I complete their journey for them!

Hard to spot under there.

The most common tortoises in our area are the Angulate tortoises. Although they are classified as Protected Wild Animals, they are not regarded as threatened.........yet. Sadly, local populations are threatened by clearing of land, either for agriculture or development. They are also caught for illegal pet trade, they get caught in fires, they are eaten by baboons, jackals, mongoose(s?), badgers and predatory birds. Apart from that, there are some really 'delightful' humans around who deliberately run them over. The main road from here to Cape Town is a 'good' example of this. Crows eat hundreds of them every year, they choose small ones that they can carry and then fly up into the air. They fly over a main road and then drop them on the tar. This smashes the shells and allows the birds to pick them out at leisure. A few years ago I was driving to Cape Town, when there was an almighty crash on the roof of the car. It sounded as though someone had thrown a stone, but there was no-one around and the road was quiet. When I stopped the car and got out, there was a crow gathering the remains of a small tortoise from the side of the road. It had obviously dropped it on my car! I was still shaking twenty kilometers later!

Angulate, or Ploegskaarskilpad!

When we first brought Alfie home to live with us, he was fascinated by tortoises, and would bring them home to show us. I think he was a bit disappointed that they were not interested in playing with him, and they simply lumbered their way out of the garden.

Lovely countryside.

I don't think that he had had much contact with them in town!