The Gopher Tortoise

The Gopher Tortoise is widely distributed over the United States. It lives in Florida, Southern Mississppi, Alabama,the Southern half of Geogia and the tip of Eastern Lousiana.The gopher tortoise grows on average to be about slightly less than one foot long and weighs about 29 pounds, though they have been found to be as big as 16 inches.

The tortoise has two distinct physical characteristics. The laminae ( a bony part of the turtles belly) extends beyond the beyond the turtle's plasteron and under the neck. This can be seen as the big hook like thing under the Gopher Tortoise's neck in the picture above.This hook is used during mating. If there is a competition between males over a female, then the males will engage in a "joust". The males will subsequently try to ram the other male in it's side and try to flip him over with the laminae. The winner will then engage in mating while the loser tries desperately to right himself. If on the occasion that a turtle can not right himself after being flipped, he will eventually die unless helped by an outside source.The other characteristic is that the Gopher Tortoise's forearms are flat. This gives them the ability to dig long burrows as the name "gopher" suggests.

Gopher tortoises are quite territorial. They may live in one burrow for most of their lives. Their burrows may be as long as 30 feet and as deep as 12 feet. Some even have hallowed out chambers in them.Other animals such as beetles,lizards, frogs,mice, and even snakes are commonly found in Gopher Tortoise's burrows.

In the mating season, in addition to the "jousting", males will walk in a circle around females bobbing their heads up and down.This atracts the females.Then males will commonly bite females in the upper shell or leg. This is a signal for the female not to move.The females normaly make nests in April through July, usually laying a clutch of 4 to 7 eggs.The eggs have many predators such as skunks, raccoons, and snakes, but as with other species, humans are the biggest danger to the eggs.Habitat loss is the main reason for this but for a while the turtles becoming pets was a big danger. Gopher Tortoises rarely survive as pets; fortunately, they are now a protected species.

 

These Baby Florida Gopher Tortises are about to leave their shells

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