Hello All,
Just thought I'd introduce myself to the forum. I'm a recent transplant to Florida from Pennsylvania and, as a matter of fact when I was looking to buy a home here, it was the discovery of a Gopher Tortoise den in the back yard that was the determining factor for the house that I chose. However, It didn't take me very long to discover that the occupant of that den had abandoned it or why that was the case. The previous owner had situated a shed so close to the den that the roof shed directly into the entrance of the den when it rained. That was the first of what now have been many examples of how indifferently Gopher Tortoises are treated here.
Since then, I've seen at least ten Gopher Tortoises run over on Route 95 or Route 1 or on one of the other roads near my home. One of those, a large adult female was displaced from her den when a guy who was "flipping a house" two doors away from mine installed a fence that blocked access to her den. A few days later that tortoise was dead on Route 1. Another smaller tortoise was buried in it's den by the same guy in the back yard of that house. I've also been told of a guy that lived directly across the road from the "flipper" that "filled in 5 dens that were located on his property. As I note the amount of land clearing for new construction in the area where I live, I'm certain that they aren't the only culprits. I can't imagine that long term survival of The Gopher Tortoise is possible in an environment of such indifference.
To finish...
When I'm asked why I'm so fascinated with turtles my reply is, "I've been into turtles since I saw my first batch of hatchlings in a plastic bin at the local Murphy's 5 & 10 in Pittsburgh. I was five or six years old at the time. I've just never lost that initial fascination." I'm now sixty-three years young and I'm still fascinated.
Just thought I'd introduce myself to the forum. I'm a recent transplant to Florida from Pennsylvania and, as a matter of fact when I was looking to buy a home here, it was the discovery of a Gopher Tortoise den in the back yard that was the determining factor for the house that I chose. However, It didn't take me very long to discover that the occupant of that den had abandoned it or why that was the case. The previous owner had situated a shed so close to the den that the roof shed directly into the entrance of the den when it rained. That was the first of what now have been many examples of how indifferently Gopher Tortoises are treated here.
Since then, I've seen at least ten Gopher Tortoises run over on Route 95 or Route 1 or on one of the other roads near my home. One of those, a large adult female was displaced from her den when a guy who was "flipping a house" two doors away from mine installed a fence that blocked access to her den. A few days later that tortoise was dead on Route 1. Another smaller tortoise was buried in it's den by the same guy in the back yard of that house. I've also been told of a guy that lived directly across the road from the "flipper" that "filled in 5 dens that were located on his property. As I note the amount of land clearing for new construction in the area where I live, I'm certain that they aren't the only culprits. I can't imagine that long term survival of The Gopher Tortoise is possible in an environment of such indifference.
To finish...
When I'm asked why I'm so fascinated with turtles my reply is, "I've been into turtles since I saw my first batch of hatchlings in a plastic bin at the local Murphy's 5 & 10 in Pittsburgh. I was five or six years old at the time. I've just never lost that initial fascination." I'm now sixty-three years young and I'm still fascinated.
