Their burrows can be up to 40 feet long and 10 feet deep, descending at a 30 degree angle. The width of the burrow is usually the length of tortoise, allowing for it to turn around in any section of the burrow. The male Gopher Tortoise can have an average of 17 burrows while the female maintains an average of 9, but it's common to have more than one tortoise sharing the same burrow. Fellow tortoises are not the only species that share the burrows, in fact not even close. The title Nature's Landlord comes from the fact up to 360 different animal species seek refuge in the tortoises burrow.
The list includes the gopher frog, the Florida mouse, opossum, indigo snake, pine snake, armadillo, burrowing owl, gopher cricket, scarab beetles, the Florida Scrub-jay and many others. The Gopher Tortoise is cold blooded averaging 10 inches long and up to 9lbs, its' life span ranges from 40- 60 years but in captivity can live more than 100 years. This particular tortoise belongs to a group of land tortoises that originated in North America nearly 60 million years ago and out of the nearly 23 species known to have existed on this continent as little as 4 species remain today. Once a year the female tortoise will lay an average of 6 eggs depending on their body size and it takes approximately 100 days for the eggs to incubate.
The gopher tortoises have temperature dependent sex determination, if the temperature of the sand is above 30 degrees the hatchlings will be female and below 30 degrees they will be male. The male tortoise has a concaved plastron (bottom shell) with a protruding plastron under the tortoises chin while the female's bottom shell is perfectly flat.
When the tortoises head and neck are completely retracted into the shell, the tortoise is generally safe from most predators. Although the tortoise has some natural threats like disease and climate, humans are the main cause for the decline of this species. In a list ranging from road mortalities to habitat destruction human interaction has played a major role in bringing this gentle herbivore closer to extinction. Florida has the gopher tortoise present in all 67 counties which has it on the list as a species of special concern.
Other states like Georgia, Louisiana. And Alabama have them listed as a threatened species but South Carolina and Mississippi have the tortoise on the endangered species list. The Gopher tortoise is an important part of the ecosystem and some of the species that share its burrows could not exist without them. Raising awareness and enforcing the protective laws is the only hope to keep Nature's Landlord from being evicted.
The tree species that greeted Ponce de Leon upon his discovery of Florida five centuries ago remain much the same today. Florida’s state forests are home not only to the bottomland hardwoods but to longleaf and slash pines, sometimes embedded with cypress and bay, dispersed among sawgrass swamp, scrubs, pinelands and even occasional patches of sandhills.
Such wide-ranging soils support equally varied wildlife: gopher tortoise, sandhill cranes, white-tailed deer, bobcat, and America’s bald eagle. The gopher tortoise, a threatened species, isn’t alone in this unstable state; the red-cockaded woodpecker, scrub jay, and indigo snake also share its unfortunate distinction.
The gopher tortoise is a very popular pet, but often it is not clear what care they need. They like a lot to be outdoors, walking and the sun, but also need shade and a place that can be protected inside the house to rest.
Animals are always surprises and present many interesting facts in the courtyard of a house in Manisa found a small turtle from a month old, which has 2 heads and 4 legs, but everything is under one shell.
Then the little turtle was taken to the Natural Park of Izmir in Turkey. As one can imagine the Siamese turtle, aroused the curiosity of all and the park have seen increasing visitors. Many years ago that is not copies with these features, in that place.
Although it has been said that there are several families who have found turtles with two heads and keep them as pets, living well.
A family in New York, has a two-headed turtle from the year 2002, are said to live a short time, but if they are adequately addressed can live longer.
They were told that each head has movement and managed independently, although the head seems to be right dominant.
In South Africa also has a pet family. Baar expert Ernest Cape Nature Conservation, said it is possible to find such animals, which they can be difficult it is to raise and reach adulthood.
No comments:
Post a Comment