This is my third post on the desert tortoise (the first is here and the second is here). Judy and I were driving down a dirt road south of Hayfield Road, south of Joshua Tree NP (which is closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic) and it was right in the dirt road.
 |
| This is where we placed it, near some Bigelow's monkeflower and desert dandelion. |
 |
| We never did see it come out of its shell, although we didn't watch it long. |
I had to stop to avoid running it over. We picked it up and moved it about 15 yards from the road. It is small, I assume it must be only four or five years old (they live 50 years or longer and don't reach maturity for 15 years).
They live 95% of their lives underground and adults can travel up to 3/4 of a mile in a day, a shocking figure to me.
It is such a treat to see one. That sighting made the whole drive out there worthwhile.
What a lucky find. It was so fun to see it! (It was also fun to go back and read your post about our pet desert tortoise.)
ReplyDeleteI know a lady who raises them, they are kind of cool.
ReplyDelete