# I was up on the roof this a.m.......



## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

......cleaning off the solar panels, and I thought, "Hm-m-m-m. This is the perfect perspective for taking pictures of habitats."

The Aldabran habitat:








In this one, you can barely see the Russian pen behind the tree on the left, the desert tortoises off at the top of the pic, the Texas tortoise habitat in the middle, and part of Dudley's habitat on the bottom:






I've mentioned "the old house that's on the back of my property" a lot in my posts. Here's the old house. It used to belong to the owner of the whole neighborhood, about 120 acres. He lived there and when he became to old to care for himself, he built the house that I live in, for his daughter to live in and care for him:






To the right of the old house is where the leopard tortoises live:






And this is the northern part of the rain forest. The southern part goes off behind the green house and to the right of the picture, but the mulberry tree is so dense you can't see it. I can never get a good picture of it:






This is where the box turtles live. The 3-toe in the far pen, and the ornates in the closer pen. Out of sight right in front of where I'm standing is the western box turtles and to their left out of the picture is the gulf coast;






This is a small, triangular-shaped pen where I keep all the mis-fits:






This is the Easterns. They're showing up as white blobs because they're in the sun and the pen is shady:





I really like the look of the grape stake fencing. Its quite easy to build, however, it takes a lot of time because the stakes are so narrow. They go down into the ground about 4 or 5 inches, but I've never seen a box turtle trying to dig out.


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## Neal (Jun 14, 2011)

Nice pictures Yvonne. In the first picture, it looks like there's some type of tree orchard back there?


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## spikethebest (Jun 14, 2011)

awesome! when did you get the solar panels? does your meter spin backwards all day long?


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## ascott (Jun 14, 2011)

BEAUTIFUL....I love the mature trees!!! I live in the high desert and have alot of the dense clay type dirt which makes it a constant struggle to get the big species thriving here...but I figure for every 3 I plant 2 make it...I love the way you have everything designated and the narrow slate fencing has character


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## Fernando (Jun 14, 2011)

Thanks for risking your life and taking those pictures for us Yvonne


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## Missy (Jun 14, 2011)

I love your property! From the looks of all your pens you don't have much to mow  Thats my dream tortoise lawnmowers. Thanks for sharing.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

Neal said:


> Nice pictures Yvonne. In the first picture, it looks like there's some type of tree orchard back there?



Yes, that's actually across the street. Its an almond orchard. I have quite a few volunteer almond trees come up every year.


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## dmarcus (Jun 14, 2011)

Awesome photos...


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

spikethebest said:


> awesome! when did you get the solar panels? does your meter spin backwards all day long?



I got the first section about 3 years ago, realized it wasn't big enough and added to it two years ago. Its still not quite big enough to make me break even because I have too many tortoise heaters during the winter, but from about May to September, the meter does spin backwards all day long.



ascott said:


> BEAUTIFUL....I love the mature trees!!! I live in the high desert and have alot of the dense clay type dirt which makes it a constant struggle to get the big species thriving here...but I figure for every 3 I plant 2 make it...I love the way you have everything designated and the narrow slate fencing has character



Thank you! Actually, my dirt is heavy, red clay too, with hard pan (calische) about 2' under that. When I want to plant a tree, I have to hire someone with a heavy auger to dig holes for me.


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## jeffbens0n (Jun 14, 2011)

Very cool, I've often wondered what your whole property looks like Yvonne, this paints a pretty good picture.


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## terryo (Jun 14, 2011)

You are a brave woman to go up there. It's very beautiful where you live, and you are lucky to have all that property. You always have to give up something to live here.....especially if you like to shop!


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

FernandoM said:


> Thanks for risking your life and taking those pictures for us Yvonne



You're very welcome. Usually my neighbor across the street does it for me (he's adopted me  ), but he's been sick. If you don't keep them clean, they don't work as well. And since I live on a busy street, they get pretty dusty in about a week.



Missy said:


> I love your property! From the looks of all your pens you don't have much to mow  Thats my dream tortoise lawnmowers. Thanks for sharing.



Actually, my neighbor across the street does that for me too. The desert tortoise pen, the back yard, where the dog lives, require mowing once a week. Some of the other pens, he hits with the WeedEater occasionally just to knock it down to tortoise size.


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## jackrat (Jun 14, 2011)

I'm green with envy! Yvonne,you have a super nice place.


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## jackrat (Jun 14, 2011)

I'm green with envy! Yvonne,you have a super nice place. Your torts are lucky.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

Thank you everyone for your nice comments. I appreciate them!!


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## Fernando (Jun 14, 2011)

Did you check to see if you get an additional credit from the government?


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

FernandoM said:


> Did you check to see if you get an additional credit from the government?



Oh yes. Believe me, I took ALL I was entitled to!!


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## October (Jun 14, 2011)

I always wondered how you kept so many different species separate. I literally dream of owning an actual piece of land some day, and not just this postage stamp! Thanks for the pictures!


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## Maggie Cummings (Jun 14, 2011)

Believe me everyone...it is very much fun to go to her house. I love it when I have enough tortoises to make a run down there...I love seeing all the different species...


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## johnnysd (Jun 14, 2011)

great pictures and wonderful layout of the property. you're property is so vast i could never afford that here in SoCal.


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## LindaF (Jun 14, 2011)

I am so jealous! You have so much room and such a nice area for your torts and turtles!


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## DixieParadise (Jun 14, 2011)

Yvonne...my gutters need cleaning. It's too hot for me to go out and try..but feel free to take some pictures while you are up there. 

Love your pictures, love how you have utilized all of your property for your torts and other gardening pleasures.

Agree you are a brave woman to go up there to clean and shoot these shots for us.


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## dmmj (Jun 14, 2011)

Nice pics so you have to climb up there and clean them off? you can just use a water hose or something and wash them off?


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## Cfr200 (Jun 14, 2011)

Very nice, except I always have mixed feelings about Clovis. For 5 years in a row I did a bicycle ride that started and ended there called the Climb to Kaiser. A very tough 150 mile course and it way always seemed to be about about 110F because it is done at the end of June. I would think the area is great for tortoises not so great for cyclist at least in the summer.


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## Zouave (Jun 14, 2011)

Your Zoo is lovely!


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2011)

dmmj said:


> Nice pics so you have to climb up there and clean them off? you can just use a water hose or something and wash them off?



Its the same thing about when you just use the hose to squirt off your car. When it dries, you still have a dusty car. Same with the panels. If you only squirt them, when they dry its still dusty, but dry, clinging dust. So I have a swimming pool, extending rod with a car washing brush attached to the end of it. I just stand on the peak of the roof and let gravity push off the dust while I push and pull the brush back and forth. Tell the truth, I'm really glad my neighbor has taken the job from me. I don't like it.


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## Melly-n-shorty (Jun 14, 2011)

its like tortoise and turtle wonder land! Love it!


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## N2TORTS (Jun 14, 2011)

.....and to think this whole time I thought Yvonne was up there waving around cause' it's Flag Day ! 



JD~


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## RV's mom (Jun 14, 2011)

beautiful. thank you for sharing.......

teri


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## DesertGrandma (Jun 14, 2011)

Yvonne, I am so envious. What a wonderful property. Thank you for posting the pictures of your tortoise farm. Bet it is a lot of work keeping it all up. Kudos for getting the solar panels. Wish we could do that here but when you live with a homeowners association it gets difficult to get approval.


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## Torty Mom (Jun 14, 2011)

Awesome Yvonne! The pictures are great! Thanks for posting them for us to see!!


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## jensgotfaith (Jun 14, 2011)

Yvonne- your property is amazing. If I ever came to visit, I would be like a kid in a candy store. I wouldn't even know where to start or stop and you'd have a hard time getting rid of me. So many different species I would be absolutely fascinated. Thank you so much for sharing. Someday I want to be like you!!!<3


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## 68merc (Jun 14, 2011)

Having been to your house its cool to sesee the pictures. I still want to come see the box turtles and Hannah got a kick out of the soft shell turtles. I think my next pond will be for them.


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## Isa (Jun 15, 2011)

Amazing! You have a beautiful and huge property Yvonne!!! I wish I could have a piece of land as huge as yours . You are so brave by the way, glad to hear your neighbour usually do it for you  !!!


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Jun 15, 2011)

Looks awesome!  Just missing a picture of the newest section


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## Yvonne G (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi Jordan:

Sorry...the new, temporary redfoot pen is behind the garage, and not visible from the roof.

While I've got you here, have you ever wondered if the bigger one (is that Millie?) is male? She is looking to have the beginnings of an hour-glass figure.

I'm not good with sexing the south American tortoises, so I can't tell from the tail or anal scutes.

Here's where they're living (picture from another thread):


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## Jacob (Jun 15, 2011)

Very Roomy!


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Jun 16, 2011)

emysemys said:


> Hi Jordan:
> 
> Sorry...the new, temporary redfoot pen is behind the garage, and not visible from the roof.
> 
> ...



I hope Millie stays a girl... the vet, my personal analysis, and several of the community members here said she was a female the last time I went in to the vet/posted a picture on here... of course, people can always be wrong! You are a tort expert!

Maybe a repost of her is needed for forum examination?


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