by Susan Branson

Created on: July 11, 2009

The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, is a large land turtle that lives in a burrow made in sandy soil. These awesome creatures originated in North America about 60 million years ago. Gopher tortoise can be found throughout the state of Florida and southern parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and the tip of Louisiana. The majority of gopher tortoises are found in north central Florida and southern Georgia.

They grow to be anywhere from 12"-16" long and weigh around 20-30 pounds when fully grown. They are dark brown or gray in color and sport a mainly flat top shell. Their front legs are wide and flat for digging their burrows.

The gopher tortoises dig burrows as their homes. Their burrows can be more than 40 feet long. These burrows are great protection from forest fires, the sun, chilly winter, and most of all predators. Most of these burrows and gophers can be found near long leaf pine sandhills, scrub and pine flat woods, also along coastal dunes. These burrows make excellent homes and shelter for many other animals such as snakes, gopher frogs, rabbits, mice, armadillos, foxes, quail and skunk to name a few. What would happen to these animals if they didn't have this shelter? These burrows serve as protection and shelter for many.

You can tell the sex of the gopher tortoise by looking at their undershell. On a male, the undershell will be concave, and on a female it is perfectly flat. Gopher tortoise will mate in the spring, and nest between April and July. They dig their nest for the eggs right near the opening of their burrow. They can lay anywhere from 4-7 eggs, and they will hatch approximately 90 days after that. The gopher tortoise eggs are round and about the size of a golf ball. The young will spend their first few months in the burrow. Gopher tortoise can live to be 100 years old. They grow relatively slow, females do not reach adulthood until 10-15 years of age.

Gopher tortoise feed on many species of plants, including grasses and berries. Most of their water intake comes from their food.

In Florida, the gopher tortoises are on the Endangered Species List, categorized as a Threatened Species. The main reason for becoming endangered is loss of habitat. New homes, roads and businesses squeeze them out. The gopher tortoise is obviously an important part of local ecology. This is why we can all help by trying to preserve these wonderful habitats.

Learn more about this author, Susan Branson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.