# Florida Gopher Tortoise



## AMA904 (Jun 10, 2014)

Just thought I would pass along a picture that my wife took this afternoon outside of my parent's house in Jacksonville, FL.


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## bouaboua (Jun 10, 2014)

How cool.....

The only wildlife I will see in my neighborhood are some birds and squirrels.


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Jun 10, 2014)

You are so lucky to have what most of us can only dream about . Great looking tort . Have a great tort day !


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## AMA904 (Jun 11, 2014)

Thanks! Unfortunately the tortoise had moved on by the time my wife brought my daughter outside. She would have loved to have seen it. Soon enough we will have our own though.


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Jun 11, 2014)

Keep me in your mind if it lays eggs 


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## Turtlepete (Jun 11, 2014)

AMA904 said:


> Thanks! Unfortunately the tortoise had moved on by the time my wife brought my daughter outside. She would have loved to have seen it. Soon enough we will have our own though.



Beautiful tortoises, but how exactly do you plan to have your own? Unless you owned one in the 70's, they are illegal to even touch, much less own. Unless your applying for research, of course, there is no way to ever own one as a pet.


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## AMA904 (Jun 11, 2014)

Turtlepete said:


> Beautiful tortoises, but how exactly do you plan to have your own? Unless you owned one in the 70's, they are illegal to even touch, much less own. Unless your applying for research, of course, there is no way to ever own one as a pet.



Hi Pete. I meant a tortoise in general, not specifically a gopher tortoise.


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## Turtlepete (Jun 11, 2014)

AMA904 said:


> Hi Pete. I meant a tortoise in general, not specifically a gopher tortoise.



Ah, that makes more sense . Haha.


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## juli11 (Jun 11, 2014)

I never understand your English names :-D could you please say the specific name?


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## AMA904 (Jun 11, 2014)

juli11 said:


> I never understand your English names :-D could you please say the specific name?



I could be wrong, but I believe it is Gopherus Polyphemus


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## Yvonne G (Jun 11, 2014)

Except it really doesn't look like a gopherus to me. Might just be the picture, though.


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## AMA904 (Jun 11, 2014)

Yvonne G said:


> Except it really doesn't look like a gopherus to me. Might just be the picture, though.



What does it look like to you?

Is there another tortoise that is native to Florida?

Just curious as i am by no means an expert


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## diamondbp (Jun 11, 2014)

It's a gopher tortoise, just an usually dark one . Cool find. You're lucky to have seen one. Supposedly my brother's uncle in law has some on his property in Louisiana where they are incredibly rare.


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## AMA904 (Jun 11, 2014)

They are pretty common here. Growing up we lived close to an area that had a whole bunch of them. I don't see them too often anymore though.


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## juli11 (Jun 11, 2014)

AMA904 said:


> I could be wrong, but I believe it is Gopherus Polyphemus




Thank you  now I understand the excitement :-D


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## vandezon (Jun 15, 2014)

We had one living in the middle between our neighbor and us, had an entrance to his hole from either yard, main hole on or side. He moved on one spring just after my husband mowed the yard, he had been there the whole summer and "winter" then moved at first mowing. Another Gopher came to visit in our yard a few wks ago, just came in under the back gate (he was a low tort), left the same afternoon. When we bought our property we left the back part of it wild (trees, weeds, leaves everything as is), and we suspect there are some out there.


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