Gophers coming to Turtle Point

This Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Turtle Point Science Center in Flomaton will host a Gopher Tortoise Festival to celebrate the protected animal, with kids activities, a hunt with prizes, a live animal show, music and other exhibits. Entry is free.

Turtle Point Executive Director Sierra Stiles says the event is to bring awareness of Gopher tortoises, which are declining in number due to habitat disruption and other issues.

"The Gopher Tortoise Festival will give people a chance to meet them and learn more about them," said Stiles. "They are social animals that know their communities and visit their friends every year. Not all animals have this kind of social life so it's really very cool and special!"

A grant from the Gopher Tortoise Council is providing entertainment and education at the event, including live music, free kids books about the Gopher Tortoise's habitat and life with activity and coloring books. There will be a tortoise burrow for the kids to crawl through and toy animals that share burrows with tortoises. Kids can learn the tortoise's lifestyle, eating and social habits, and many more facts about them. The center provides information on many other native species that are a part of the region's ecosystem, including 360 other animals that have been documented sharing the burrows built by Gopher tortoises.

"Visitors can walk our boardwalk to the creek, tour our exhibits inside and shop our unique gift shop," said Stiles. "We are so excited and can't wait to see everyone there this Saturday."

Stiles' husband, Jimmy Stiles, will be there with others from the Forest Service and Legacy Environmental Education who will share a live animal show, a talk about red-cockaded woodpeckers and an activity table to visit. A family-friendly band, 'The Flying Doonans and Friends' will play music to dance to, featuring a guitar, stand-up bass, a washboard and two vocalists.

Turtle Point Science Center is located at 20959 US Highway 31 in Flomaton.