Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño are the first offspring of the 90-year-old tortoise Mr. Pickles.
Credit: © Jackelin Reyna, Houston Zoo

Mr. Pickles, the 90-year-old radiated tortoise, now has three little tortoises to look after. Mr. Pickles and 53-year-old Mrs. Pickles live at the Houston Zoo in Texas. They welcomed Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño to their family in March. Radiated tortoises are native to Madagascar. They are a critically endangered species. Endangered species are living things threatened with extinction—that is, the dying off of all of their kind. Many zoos around the world have studied how to breed radiated tortoises to boost the population.

What’s the difference between a tortoise and a turtle? Tortoises are turtles that live only on land. Tortoises have stumpy hind legs and feet that look like those of an elephant, quite different from the flippers of sea turtles and the webbed feet of most freshwater turtles. Most tortoises have a high, domed shell. They pull their head, feet, and tail into the shell for protection from predators. Tortoises feed primarily on plants.

There are dozens of species of tortoises. Many live in hot, dry regions. Three species live in the United States. The desert tortoise is found in the deserts of the American Southwest. The Texas tortoise inhabits scrublands in southern Texas. The gopher tortoise lives in the sandhills of the Southeastern coastal plain. All three of these tortoises rest in burrows that they dig in the ground. Not all tortoises live in dry habitats. For example, the red-footed tortoise and the yellow-footed tortoise inhabit lowland tropical rain forests in South America.

Tortoises vary widely in size. One of the largest tortoises is the giant Galapagos tortoise, which lives on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The largest Galapagos tortoises grow to 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. The speckled tortoises of southwestern Africa are among the smallest species. Speckled tortoises are only about 4 inches (10 centimeters) long when fully grown.

Like other turtles, tortoises lay their eggs in holes in the ground. When the eggs hatch, the young dig to the surface to fend for themselves. Most tortoises die in the first 10 years of life. Raccoons, foxes, and other predatory animals feed on tortoise eggs and young tortoises. Tortoises that survive the first several years can live an extremely long time. Some have lived more than 100 years in captivity.

Tortoise populations are declining quickly because people destroy the animal’s habitat and illegally kill tortoises for food. In addition, many tortoises die from diseases introduced by humans. Many countries forbid the capture or killing of tortoises.

August 30, 2017

Late last Friday night, on August 25, the deluge of Hurricane Harvey began soaking the central coast of Texas in the southern United States. Since then, the storm has continued to dump record rains, causing unprecedented flooding that has displaced some 30,000 people. More than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of rain has saturated the Houston area, submerging low-lying areas and swelling reservoirs to near-breaking points. As Harvey hovers and continues to dump torrential rains, the U.S. National Weather Service warns of “catastrophic” and “life threatening” flooding in southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. As of today, 30 people have died in storm-related incidents.

On Aug. 27, 2017, members of the Texas National Guard evacuate Houston residents stranded by Hurricane Harvey’s record flooding. Credit: Lt. Zachary West, Army National Guard

Harvey’s floodwaters have affected 50 counties in Texas, and some 4,000 troops from the Texas National Guard have been deployed—along with thousands of police, firefighters, and other emergency responders—to help the storm’s many victims. Many civilian volunteers are helping, too, using their own boats, food, and other supplies. Numerous people and pets have been rescued by boat, high-water vehicles, and helicopter from automobiles, trees, homes, and rooftops. Hundreds of roads are blocked by high water, and Houston’s airports, schools, and office buildings remain closed. Storm damage is expected to top $20 billion, and repairs and reconstruction after the storm could take years. Some 450,000 people are expected to seek federal disaster assistance. Harvey is the strongest storm to hit Texas since Hurricane Carla in 1961.

On Aug. 24, 2017, Hurricane Harvey strengthens over the Gulf of Mexico prior to hitting the Texas coast late on August 25. Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

Harvey’s pockets of tornadolike winds have caused some damage, but the storm’s winds—which have lessened enough for Harvey to be downgraded to a tropical storm—have not been the problem. Harvey’s great destructive force has been its rain generation. Very slow moving, Harvey has lingered over the Texas coast and the Gulf of Mexico, turning out multiple thunderstorms from a bottomless water supply. Torrential rains have hit coastal areas for days on end, and flooding and storm surges have not reached their peak potential. The worst may be yet to come before the storm crawls northeast and weakens over land in the coming days.

Harvey formed as a cluster of thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean before hitting the island of Barbados as a tropical storm on August 18. The storm fragmented as it crossed Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, but it redeveloped and gained strength over the Bay of Campeche. Water temperatures there and in the entire Gulf of Mexico are well above average, and storms like Harvey feed off those warm waters. An expansion of the subtropical high pressure belt gave Harvey a clear and gentle upper atmosphere in which to grow, and the storm coiled and flexed into a hurricane as it neared the Texas coast. The warmer waters and expansion of high pressure areas—as well as a superabundance of moisture in the air—are ripe conditions for hurricane creation. They are also consistent with the effects of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization linked Harvey’s enormous rainfall with climate change.

May 27, 2015

Heavy rains and flooding over the last four days have killed 18 people in the southern U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. In Texas, the death toll stands at 17 people with an additional 11 people still missing. Two days ago, on May 25, a tornado struck Ciudad Acuna in Mexico, killing at least 13 people.

The city of Houston was hard hit by flash floods on Monday, May 25. Roads in the central  area of the city were impassable for much of Tuesday. I-45 near downtown Houston had flood waters at least 14-feet (4.2-meters) deep in some areas. Motors abandoned their cars along the road and left with rescuers. Flood waters filled the first-floor parking garage of a major shopping mall, the Galleria, trapping some workers in the mall over night. Many people in Houston had to climb onto the roof of their home and wait for rescue by boat. Most of those who died were caught in and swept away by rapid, swirling waters.

People kayak down a flooded street in Houston, Texas, on May 26, 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In the tornado that hit the border town of Ciudad Acuna, hundreds of homes were damaged and at least 13 people were killed when the storm, with wind speeds of 168-186 miles (270-300 kilometers) per hour, struck. Most of those killed were walking outside at the time.

This weather system is still expected to bring rain over the South, with more extreme weather predicted for tonight. It is also expected to move into Louisiana tomorrow, and perhaps cause flooding for that city.