Burrow Buddies Day at Mackle Park

It was an “owlsome” and “gophertastic” day, Saturday, April 15, at Mackle Park for Burrow Buddie Day, a celebration of Marco’s burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Sponsored by the Audubon of the Western Everglades, music was provided by local icon J.Robert Houghtaling.

It’s easy to fall in love with the charismatic burrowing owl!  You hear their familiar and comforting “hoo, hoo” call around the neighborhood, or the rattlesnake hissing sound it makes when you come too close. They also coo, cluck, chirp or emit a low, raspy sound. How about the funny way it bobs its head from side to side or moves it back and forward, all while staring at you standing still on a wooden perch? 

The gopher tortoise is a more quiet and solitary creature, but I’ve heard them make low hissing sounds or a grunt when startled. During courtship, it does a silly head bobbing or head-butting other males. Maybe not as charming as its owl buddy, but it boasts an impressive ancestry dating back 60 million years.

Only on Marco Island would you have an amazing group of over 80 conservation-minded Owl Watch volunteers who, on a weekly rotation basis, monitor over 350 nesting sites. Chicks have been popping up, and last year they recorded 553 fledged chicks. They also added gopher tortoises to their list, and an estimated 1,340 gopher tortoises have been recorded.

Since January 2023, 12 gopher tortoises have succumbed to vehicular strikes, according to Brittany Piersma, Field Biologist for the Audubon of the Western Everglades. She added that vehicle collisions are the number one cause of death for gopher tortoises on Marco Island. For this small population, each fatality has a huge impact on their long-term survival. The use of pesticides on their food source is another cause of death.

Piersma also said vehicular collision is the number one cause of death for burrowing owls. The owls are most vulnerable during nesting season when parent owls hunt for the chicks and tend to fly low across the road. In 2022, 37 owls were fatally killed by vehicle strikes. 

Another alarming cause of death is the use of rodenticides. Owls and other wildlife are eating tainted prey that is laced with it. Owl Watch volunteers are imploring residents to switch to safer options such ContraPest or CO2 traps. Piersma gave kudos to several Marco condos that have changed to CO2 traps. 

In the last year, if I left my neighborhood even just for a month, I’ll return to find visible changes with six homes currently under construction. These lots were prime gopher tortoise and owl habitats. On Marco and in many places in Southwest Florida, vacant lots are being snapped up by investors and soon it will be nothing but rooftops and concrete. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to these burrow buddies as they are rapidly being squeezed out of the few places they call home. This changing landscape is a wake-up call for all.

The Owl Watch Program is in its eighth year making connections to these threatened species. Volunteers are sharing their stories and their love and passion for our wildlife and preaching the need to protect their few remaining habitats. 

Whether we like to think about it or not, each time we lose an owl or a tortoise to a vehicular strike, rat poison, or a collapsed or filled burrow, we decide their future on Marco. And each time we decide to protect their habitat, we also protect nature for us.