Get to Know Florida’s Gopher Tortoise
October 4, 2024 at 11:23 a.m.
Providing visitors and nearby residents with an excellent opportunity to explore old Florida habitats and wildlife, Sarasota County’s Manasota Scrub Preserve does just that. On a recent visit I was delighted to spot several active gopher tortoise burrows. During this recent guided walk led by the Mangrove Chapter Native Plant Society, it was clear that Manasota Scrub Preserve strives to maintain habitats for these rare wildlife species, who might otherwise become extinct. An assortment of wildflowers, including pawpaw, golden aster and blazing star, can be visible from the trails.
The Preserve’s 179 acres are home to one of the few remaining scattered pockets of scrub habitat, pine flatwoods, and seasonal wetlands located within Englewood. Resident wildlife such as the gopher tortoise, Northern Quail, Great-Horned Owl, swallowtail butterflies, and the occasional bobcat can be observed. Florida’s scrubby natural areas are home to two of the most unique and imperiled of all Florida Wildlife; the gopher tortoise and Florida scrub jay. Additional native habitat restoration is now underway at Manasota Scrub Preserve to prepare for the return of the precious Florida Scrub-Jay and to enhance the area for other native wildlife.
Gopher tortoises descended from a species of land tortoise that occupied western North America about 60 million years ago. Today, only five tortoise species remain in North America and the gopher tortoise is the only one that occurs east of the Mississippi River.
Gopher tortoises are brownish gray land turtles and about the size of a Frisbee. They are reptiles, which means they have a backbone, scaly skin, lungs to breath and are cold blooded. Due to their cold-blooded nature the regulation of body temperature depends on external sources, such as sunlight. In order to survive, gopher tortoises need dry, sandy areas with few trees so they can dig their burrows. Gopher tortoises create a unique thermostat for steady temperature and humid climate throughout the year by digging long, deep burrows.
Gopher tortoises are a keystone species, meaning other animals depend on them for survival. Their burrows are used by more than 350 other species known as “commensals”. The most common include; the burrowing owl, Florida mouse, gopher frog, and the eastern indigo snake. Gopher tortoise burrows provide protection from fires, extreme temperatures, drought, and predators.
Sandy soil is also a great place for female tortoises to lay their eggs, which they bury in the ground. Gopher tortoises mate from February through September, with a peak mating season throughout May and June. Females lay clutches of 3-14 eggs, depending on body size, in a sandy mound very close to the entrance of their burrow. After about three months a lemon-yellow baby hatches in the nest. The hatchlings will live temporarily in an adult’s burrow or create their own.
Gopher tortoises reach maturity at around 10-15 years of age, when their shells are around 9 inches (23 cm) long. They have been living on earth for 500,000 to 2 million years. Increasingly, their habitat is destroyed by development. One of the most critical impacts that development has had on gopher tortoises is the routine removal of native plant habitats and excavating land to replant cleared lots with trees. Mature trees shade out food sources for the gopher tortoise. Low growing plants supply food for the gopher tortoise’s primarily plant based herbivorous diet.
Human activities and loss of habitat have eliminated the gopher tortoise from parts of its historic range in North Carolina, northern Alabama, western Louisiana and eastern Texas. While many gopher tortoises are hit by cars when crossing paved roads. If you do spot one crossing the road or under a car in a parking lot, it is important to leave the gopher tortoise in the same area it was found. Likewise, if you see a gopher tortoise walking in the sand or across the dunes on the beach, do not take it with you or move it to a different location.
Gopher tortoises are terrestrial which means they live on land and should never be placed in the water.
Once a gopher tortoise has been removed from the wild and place of origin is unknown, a gopher tortoise is referred to as a waif tortoise. Waif tortoises cannot be returned to the wild and must be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives. The gopher tortoise (gopherus polyphemus) is the official tortoise of the state of Florida and is a threatened/endangered and protected species. It is important for all of us to work together to decrease the number of waif tortoises and keep gopher tortoises wild.
How You Can Help
• Grow native gopher-tortoise-friendly plants on your property such as wire grass, broadleaf grasses, wild peas, blueberries, and prickly pear.
• State law protects gopher tortoises and their burrows. Only permitted individuals are allowed to relocate them. Please do not harass, pursue, or molest them.
• Avoid mowing, driving over, or disturbing the area around a burrow; and never block a burrow opening.
• To learn more, please visit https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/gopher-tortoise/