Scott Hanko
Desert Tortoise Mating
The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The species name agassizii is in honor of Swiss-American zoologist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz.The tortoise is able to live where ground temperature may exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) because of its ability to dig underground burrows and escape the heat. At least 95% of its life is spent in burrows. There, it is also protected from freezing winter weather while dormant, from November through February or March. With its burrow, this tortoise creates a subterranean environment that can be beneficial to other reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.
Scientists have divided the desert tortoise into two types: the Mojave and Sonoran Desert tortoises, with a possible third type in the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona. They live in a different type of habitat, from sandy flats to rocky foothills. They have a strong proclivity in the Mojave desert for alluvial fans, washes and canyons where more suitable soils for den construction might be found. They range from near sea level to around 3,500 feet in elevation. Tortoises show very strong site fidelity, and have well established home ranges where they know where their food, water and mineral resources are, and who their neighbors are. They also live to be 80–100 years old, although predation, disease and habitat loss have created significant challenges for the population at large.
Tortoises mate in the spring and in the fall. The female will lay a clutch of 3 - 5 hard-shelled-eggs (which are the size and shape of ping-pong balls), usually in June or July, and they hatch in August or September. Wild female tortoises can produce 2 or possibly 3 clutches a year
Wild Animal Park Escondido Ca.
Desert Tortoise Mating
The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The species name agassizii is in honor of Swiss-American zoologist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz.The tortoise is able to live where ground temperature may exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) because of its ability to dig underground burrows and escape the heat. At least 95% of its life is spent in burrows. There, it is also protected from freezing winter weather while dormant, from November through February or March. With its burrow, this tortoise creates a subterranean environment that can be beneficial to other reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.
Scientists have divided the desert tortoise into two types: the Mojave and Sonoran Desert tortoises, with a possible third type in the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona. They live in a different type of habitat, from sandy flats to rocky foothills. They have a strong proclivity in the Mojave desert for alluvial fans, washes and canyons where more suitable soils for den construction might be found. They range from near sea level to around 3,500 feet in elevation. Tortoises show very strong site fidelity, and have well established home ranges where they know where their food, water and mineral resources are, and who their neighbors are. They also live to be 80–100 years old, although predation, disease and habitat loss have created significant challenges for the population at large.
Tortoises mate in the spring and in the fall. The female will lay a clutch of 3 - 5 hard-shelled-eggs (which are the size and shape of ping-pong balls), usually in June or July, and they hatch in August or September. Wild female tortoises can produce 2 or possibly 3 clutches a year
Wild Animal Park Escondido Ca.