Wild Gopher Tortoise. Florida.

[Alaskamike]

Wow. Found this one in side lot next to my house. Cool to see them in the wild. Looked about 10".

 

[wellington]

Wow, so cool. Also so lucky. I always love seeing pics of torts in the wild. Thanks for sharing.

 

[HLogic]

I haven't seen my local Gophers in over a week. I'm beginning to wonder... They do tend to disappear for weeks at a time only to reappear wandering the yard as if nothing had changed.

 

[keepergale]

Love the photos. The wildlife in Florida is great. You don't have to out to the "back country" to see wildlife. It comes right to you.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Beeeeeautiful! Love this picture, thanks for taking and sharing!
Okay, I have a question to the gopherus experts: How do we tell CDT, ADT apart from Florida gopherus?
My neighbor has a desert tortoise that they inherited. They think it is well over 50 years old.
It looks an awful lot like this wild one. Same dark color, same shape. Got me wondering ...

 

[sissyofone]

This is a super cool picture. Thanks for sharing.

 

[tortdad]

Awesome pics. Did you find the burro?

 

[Alaskamike]

Got video of him.

 

[Alaskamike]

I did not go looking for burrow yet but I will. It's probably very close. The southern gopher torts and western desert torts are close cousins. Not sure how close or if they could mate. A biologist could tell us.

That's only 2nd one I've see in my yard. They are a bit reclusive. But mating season is coming up soon.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I found this eleven or twelve incher roaming the field next to my shop today. Nice looking fellow.