Every spring and fall I head to the Mojave Desert where I work as a Tortoise Biologist. I monitor construction, conduct surveys, and help move tortoises out of harm’s way. Sometimes I watched giant trucks to make sure they didn’t run over tortoises for 10-14 hours a day while wearing steal-toed boots and a hardhat, other times I get to walk survey transects for days on end. My coworkers and I get to find all kinds of strange and awesome things like an angel food pan on a post with marbles in it, burrowing owl nests, a human skeleton on Friday the13th, and a Gila Monster during a hail storm!