Anne Marie Ellis, age 9, of Englewood, Fla., for her question:

WHERE DOES THE GOPHER TURTLE LAY HER EGGS?

Our slowpoke gopher turtle actually is a tortoise  a special sort of turtle, designed to live on dry land. Instead of flippers for swimming, her feet have strong claws for digging in the dirt. She uses them to dig herself a sloping burrow, maybe 10 20 feet long, where she spends the night. During the day she comes out to feast on leaves and insects

But those round, soft shell eggs need the warmth of the sun to help them hatch. So she lays them on the surface, where she can keep an eye on them. When she digs her burrow, she leaves a pile of sandy dirt near her front door. This becomes the nest where    she hides her six or so precious eggs.