Gopher Tortoise

[Domboski]

I'm in Florida (Citrus Springs) visiting my mother and getting ready to set off the real deal fireworks :usa1:. As always when I visit, I found a Gopher Tortoise in the street. I always bring them back to my mother's house and let them go in the woods. I took a few pictures with my phone of the one I found today. Too many of these guys get hit by cars along with armadillos in this area.

I gave her (yes female) a banana for her troubles:

 

[qckwzrd]

thats cool, anything else you find out there? any gators in the road? lol ever seen any box turtles?

 

[lamaseta17]

well thats one happy tortoise thanks to you, instead of being squashed he gets a banana

 

[Domboski]

Obviously there is an abundance of life here. I've seen sea turtles, manatees, sharks, bobcats, scorpions and even otters. I haven't ran into any box turtles yet. Box Turtles seem to be quite rare to find all over the US now.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Box turtles I believe are on the endangered species list.

 

[Domboski]

They are not on the endangered species list surprisingly. Even the IUCN Red List has them categorized as "lower risk". They must be abundant somewhere but the numbers on LI definitely seem much lower than they used to be. I even checked the NY & LI field offices for the Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm definitely surprised. I thought they were on the list as you did chief.

There is one box turtle on the endangered species list though. It is the Aquatic box turtle (Terrapene coahuila).