Late Night Frankie

Went out at 8:30 p.m. tonight to look for Mattie, the spider tortoise (she gets out each afternoon to graze in Frankie the sulcata's pen. Since meeting her and doing lots of sniffing, he has not bothered her since). Frankie usually heads in for the night long before sunset, usually about 6:00 or so. Tonight, in my search for Mattie, which I am doing after sunset as it is so very hot, temperatures in the 90's and heat index in the 100's, I thought I saw Frankie sitting just inside his house. I focused the flashlight right on his entrance and sure enough, Frankie was sitting with his head and fore-body on the door entrance, awake.

I've heard that sulcatas, in their native land, during the very heat of summer, sometimes come out at night to graze when it is cooler. Perhaps tonight Frankie was mimicking the natural behavior of his wild counterparts. It was interesting to see.