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| The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert. The Gopherus agassizii is distributed in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. Due to their ability to dig underground burrows and escape the heat, these tortoises are able to live where ground temperatures may exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit A minimum of 95% of its life is spent in their burrows where they are also protected from freezing winter weather while dormant, between November through February or March. Tortoises come out of brumation, a semi-hibernation state, in March or April as the weather warms up and stay active until about October. With its burrow, this tortoise creates a subterranean environment that can be beneficial to other reptiles, especially rattlesnakes. The desert tortoise is Nevada's state reptile. |
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Description: These tortoises may attain a length up 14 inches, with males being slightly larger than females. Male tortoises have a longer gular horn than females, their plastron (lower shell) is concave compared to female tortoises. Males have larger tails than females do. Their shells are high-domed, and greenish-tan to dark brown in color. Desert tortoises can grow to a height (shell) of more than 6 inches and weigh up to 15 pounds when fully grown. Their front limbs have sharp, claw-like scales and are flattened for digging; back legs are skinnier and very long. A herbivore, their diet consists of mostly grasses, but it also eats herbs, annual wildflowers, and new growth of cacti. Much of the tortoise’s water intake comes from moisture in the grasses and wildflowers they consume in the spring. Due to a large urinary bladder, they can store over forty percent of their body weight in water. Adult tortoises can survive a year or more without access to water. These remarkable creatures have existed unchanged for about 18 million years. These pictures were taken inside the tortoise habitat, managed by the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Visitor Center. 04/29/2015 Trip Notes: While on our way to the Lucy Gray Mine, northeast of Nipton, California, Harvey and I came across three instances of Desert Tortoise crossing the road. In all the hiking I have done over the past several years, this is the first time I have come across live Desert Tortoise in their natural environment. To see three of them in the same day was just amazing. Click here for pictures ... Desert Tortoise Finding Near Nipton, California. |
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| 10/30/2012 Trip Notes: On this date I was hiking the desert east of Route 95 North in the area of the North Las Vegas Wash with my friend Harvey Smith when we came upon the shell of a dead desert tortoise. Other than the spotting a burrow, this is the first time I have come across actual evidence of a turtle in the desert. After some looking around, we found what was his home about 15 feet away from the shell. I moved the shell there for the sake of a picture (below). |
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