This video is of the Herman,living wild in my garden, just after she had laid 3 eggs. It took about an hour in all to dig the hole and bury them. she had been acting strange all day doing a little dance on the spot now and again
I've got photo's of the egg laying if anyone's interested
Yes, actually it does seem a strange place to lay eggs. The spot is in full sun all day just outside the shade of a Lime tree ( you call them Linden tree I think in the USA ) but it is in the main part of the garden, a good way from the house. We've tried allowing part of the garden to grow wild but she seems to prefer short grass. We are sure she is an escaped pet because we are told wild tortoises don't live this far north in France. We thought we had lost her last winter because it went down to minus 19 but she appeared in April OK