Gopherus Polyphemus

It's hard to make a tortoise look anything other than grumpy and comic, but this variety is quite interesting.

The gopher tortoise belongs to a group of land tortoises that originated in North America 60 million years ago, thus making it one of the oldest living species. He can be found throughout the state of Florida and southern areas of Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and the tip of Eastern Louisiana. He reaches sexual maturity between 12 and 15 years of age, when their shells are about 9 inches long; ( this one measured 10 inches, so in his prime!). They are extremely long-lived animals; estimates for wild tortoises range from 40 - 60 years, The gopher tortoise is a very important part of the local ecology. As in any food web, if you start taking certain flora or fauna out of the equation, then you can adversely affect the survival of that ecosystem. The gopher tortoise digs and lives in deep burrows, The burrow provides protection from predators and the elements, and also extreme conditions on the surface such as drought, freezing weather, and fires. Depths vary from around 3 - 20 feet deep. The burrows vary in shape, with most being straight or with only slight curves.
The gopher tortoise is especially important because the burrows he digs also provide homes for other animals; some species share the burrows with the him and others utilize ones that have been abandoned. Since the burrows are used by so many species, it is easy to see that removing the tortoises from the local habitat would leave many animals without homes. True, some of these animals will be able to relocate, but there are a few species that are found only in these burrows.
The gopher tortoise is federally protected, and in Florida gopher tortoises are on the Endangered Species List, categorized as a Threatened Species. This means that their current numbers are dropping and several studies are presently being conducted on the tortoises to ascertain the reason for the decline.

One is not allowed to move tortoises, except in their own interest. This one was high tailing down the highway, so I deemed it in his best interest to be moved back to the nearest piece of natural habitat, and blipping him as a reward for rescuing him. He does not look grateful, it has to be said. Maybe he was on a road trip.