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Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 2:19 pm
by mrfish
Ravens and Tortoises
Ravens are a problem because their populations have increased greatly as a result of urban sprawl. More ravens equals more dead tortoises.
Old video (cnCXXTVmMbI) no longer working, so here's a new one!!!! :shrug:

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:33 am
by panamint_patty
The other thing that kills off the tortoises are off-road vehicles. Between lung disease, raven over-population, and ORVs, the poor tortoises don't have a chance. It would be nice to see more done about ORVs. I have no problem with them when they stay on designated dirt roads, but when they take off willy-nilly through the desert, that's a real problem. I know there are laws against that sort of thing, but I don't see a lot of evidence that anyone is enforcing those laws!
:soap:

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:10 am
by tronagirl
Protecting the Desert Tortoise
Some info about the Desert Tortoise Research Facility in the Mojave Desert. It's also supposed to make it look like Chevron is environmentally responsible.

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:32 am
by panamint_patty
Recession Dooms Hundreds of Endangered Tortoises
Sad situation in Nevada. The clip doesn't give a lot of details, but I suspect that they must be euthanized since they carry a deadly virus. Rather than release them into the wild and infect other tortoises, they just kill them instead.


Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:41 pm
by James Sel
panamint_patty wrote:Recession Dooms Hundreds of Endangered Tortoises
Sad situation in Nevada. The clip doesn't give a lot of details, but I suspect that they must be euthanized since they carry a deadly virus. Rather than release them into the wild and infect other tortoises, they just kill them instead.



No way will it happen like that "I Call BS"

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:19 am
by mrfish
Hatching of a Mojave Desert Tortoise
Watch baby tortoises hatch from the egg and absorb their yolk! I never heard of this absorbing the yolk stuff before, but tortoises can afford to waste any nutrition or moisture!
One of the surprising moments in the movie is when the hatchling tumbles from its shell and is propped up by its yolk. This is an evolutionary adaptation where the young absorb the yolk over several hours and they then use that nutrition to sustain themselves during the first few months of their lives. This is an especially handy adaptation as the young tortoises hatch in late summer when temperatures can exceed 110 degrees making the search for food especially difficult.


Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2014 7:46 am
by wildrose
Edible Landscaping for Tortoises
Interesting information just in case you want to keep a tortoise in your backyard. It turns out that tortoises are not strict vegetarians. They'll actually eat garden snails!
And, finally, there are garden snails, a garden product which flourishes, like it or not. Many tortoise keepers report the routine consumption of snails (sometimes after being crushed by the keeper) on the part of their tortoises as well as their box turtles.

LINK: http://www.tortoise.org/general/edibplan.html

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:51 am
by tronagirl
wildrose wrote:Edible Landscaping for Tortoises
Interesting information just in case you want to keep a tortoise in your backyard. It turns out that tortoises are not strict vegetarians. They'll actually eat garden snails!
And, finally, there are garden snails, a garden product which flourishes, like it or not. Many tortoise keepers report the routine consumption of snails (sometimes after being crushed by the keeper) on the part of their tortoises as well as their box turtles.

LINK: http://www.tortoise.org/general/edibplan.html

This page is interesting too:
LINK: http://tortoise.org/general/wildplan.html
It's interesting to see a list like this of the wild plants that tortoises eat.

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 7:39 am
by wildrose
Scouting around the valley I've come across a bunch of tortoise burrows with loose dirt. I haven't seen a single one out and about so far this spring, but they're obviously active and the spring foliage should be to their liking!

Re: Desert Tortoises

PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:14 am
by tronagirl
I've been meaning to share a recent tortoise sighting from a couple weeks ago. I was out on a hike to Panamint Dunes with some friends and we ran across a pretty good sized one about two miles form the parking area. I haven't seen any around for a couple of years and so this was an especially neat sighting.