A lifelong passion and commitment to protecting animals just earned Bob Walker the 2011 Gopher Tortoise Council Conservation Education Award.
Walker, better known as “Turtle Bob,” started working at Nokuse Plantation five years ago, and three years ago started teaching classes when the Biophilia Center opened. But his love of animals started when he was just a boy.
“As a youngster, I always appreciated all these animals. If my parents would buy me a book, it had to be an animal book,” said Walker.
Walker and his family moved to South Florida, where the sparsely developed wilderness was a haven for turtles and snakes.
Today, Turtle Bob shares his lifelong fascination of animals with the children who come to visit the Biophilia Center.
The center holds classes for fourth- and seventh-grade students, all of whom come for four-day field trips. They come to take classes, tour the Biophilia Center, and see firsthand how the longleaf pine ecosystem is protected.
“All the snakes are very fascinating,” said Bay Elementary student Jacob Fazio after leaving Turtle Bob’s lesson. I love how they keep them here and they don’t let them out or give them as pets. They actually give them true care."
The snakes delighted a class March 14 when Turtle Bob pulled them out of his pocket. Walker also brought out a gopher tortoise, whose population he is responsible for monitoring on the 50,000-acre Nokuse Plantation.
“Tortoises are right on the brink of being endangered,” Turtle Bob told the class. This is due to increased housing development, which will build over tortoise burrows, and impede their naturally slow reproductive cycle.
“Five years ago, there were 500,” said Walker, of the area that in previous years had boasted more than 20,000 of the species.
And it is Turtle Bob’s mission to ensure this tortoise population thrives.
“It’s a keystone species,” said Turtle Bob. “Three hundred sixty species depend on the tortoise. All those animals that need that tortoise start to decline.”
The burrows in which tortoises live also serve as shelter for other animals in times of danger. The indigo snake, gopher mouse and gopher frog are just a few tortoise-dependent creatures.
Realizing the importance of the species, housing developers now will dig up the turtles from the burrows, and relocate them elsewhere. Nokuse Plantation is one such home for displaced turtles.
In addition to teaching classes and visiting school students, Turtle Bob presents his message for the public on some Saturdays. When he is a presenter, he lets the kids hold snakes, tortoises, and other animals. Kids can bring their parents to the day of educational fun. Fees for adults are $5 and $2 for kids 12 and younger.
Visit www.eowilsoncenter.org for more information about the center, for hours, and for a schedule of Saturday presenters.
Walker, better known as “Turtle Bob,” started working at Nokuse Plantation five years ago, and three years ago started teaching classes when the Biophilia Center opened. But his love of animals started when he was just a boy.
“As a youngster, I always appreciated all these animals. If my parents would buy me a book, it had to be an animal book,” said Walker.
Walker and his family moved to South Florida, where the sparsely developed wilderness was a haven for turtles and snakes.
Today, Turtle Bob shares his lifelong fascination of animals with the children who come to visit the Biophilia Center.
The center holds classes for fourth- and seventh-grade students, all of whom come for four-day field trips. They come to take classes, tour the Biophilia Center, and see firsthand how the longleaf pine ecosystem is protected.
“All the snakes are very fascinating,” said Bay Elementary student Jacob Fazio after leaving Turtle Bob’s lesson. I love how they keep them here and they don’t let them out or give them as pets. They actually give them true care."
The snakes delighted a class March 14 when Turtle Bob pulled them out of his pocket. Walker also brought out a gopher tortoise, whose population he is responsible for monitoring on the 50,000-acre Nokuse Plantation.
“Tortoises are right on the brink of being endangered,” Turtle Bob told the class. This is due to increased housing development, which will build over tortoise burrows, and impede their naturally slow reproductive cycle.
“Five years ago, there were 500,” said Walker, of the area that in previous years had boasted more than 20,000 of the species.
And it is Turtle Bob’s mission to ensure this tortoise population thrives.
“It’s a keystone species,” said Turtle Bob. “Three hundred sixty species depend on the tortoise. All those animals that need that tortoise start to decline.”
The burrows in which tortoises live also serve as shelter for other animals in times of danger. The indigo snake, gopher mouse and gopher frog are just a few tortoise-dependent creatures.
Realizing the importance of the species, housing developers now will dig up the turtles from the burrows, and relocate them elsewhere. Nokuse Plantation is one such home for displaced turtles.
In addition to teaching classes and visiting school students, Turtle Bob presents his message for the public on some Saturdays. When he is a presenter, he lets the kids hold snakes, tortoises, and other animals. Kids can bring their parents to the day of educational fun. Fees for adults are $5 and $2 for kids 12 and younger.
Visit www.eowilsoncenter.org for more information about the center, for hours, and for a schedule of Saturday presenters.