Gopher tortoise on Sanibel Island

The wife and I spent some time on Sanibel Island recently, and one day after coming off of the beach to get on our bikes to ride back to the rental house, Connie spotted a gopher tortoise up the sandy road we used to ride the bikes out to get to a more secluded area of Bowman Beach. I happened to have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 camera with me, as I was taking some video of the dredging operation going on in the pass between Sanibel and Captiva islands. So I wanted to get some video of that gopher tortoise, even though he was a bit further away than I would have liked. I walked out to the sandy road and just started filming, figuring I would at least get some video before he got spooked and vanished into the undergrowth.

I needn't have worried about that, as it turned out. The tortoise simply started marching towards me like I wasn't even there. I mean he came RIGHT to me! I was glad I had shoes on, because I believe that had I been barefoot, he might have even tried to take a nibble of my toes thinking they were some sort of edible berries. I should have continued video taping while he was right underneath of me, but honestly I started laughing at that point and probably couldn't have kept the camera very steady anyway.

We saw him several times over the time we were there, but that was the only time that he actively headed in my direction. I guess he has seen enough people out there over his lifetime such that he wasn't much worried about human beings being out and about in his stomping grounds.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvuyThCXdSs

We have many gopher tortoises in our area. Two of them have tunnels close to my house. I've seen them hundreds of times, but they never want to approach unless I sit in my chair very still. I've never seen a female laying eggs, but found hatchlings, which are very cute. I'm surprised that they haven't developed lighter colors in all these generations. There's seldom a day without sun around here. I've never seen them eat anything but grass. I dropped hibiscus blossoms near them to see if they were interested, but they walked right over them.

The largest gopher tortoises I can recall ever seeing are over on the Manasota Beach Club. They are HUGE! And pretty much just ignore people walking around, being so used to seeing them around day in and day out.

We haven't seen any on our property in quite a long time. Except for a real small one, which as far as I can tell, his little burrow is still active. I wish they would get used to us and just hang around here without getting frightened. Also wish I knew if we just haven't stumbled on the tortoises, or something got to them. We do have neighbor's dogs coming onto the property pretty frequently. And I guess it's a pretty bad day for a tortoise when he stumbles across a fire ant mound.

People have told me that they have seen them as large as army helmets in the Burnt Store area. I've never seen one that large in that area, but they are impressive. Last month I saw 4 adults grazing within 100 feet of each other along a bike path I use. Then I saw a sign that said there's a Gopher Tortoise relocation effort taking place. I was driving along 776 a few months ago and saw an albino turtle walking along the side of the highway. I couldn't slow down fast enough to get a better look at it and I was running late for an appointment anyway, so had to keep going. I went back after the appointment, but it was long gone. Probably a Red Eared Slider.

I'm sure I've taken video or photos of the ones we saw on Manasota Key Beach Club, but it's been several years ago that we were there, and no idea where those videos may be now. But I recall that they were MUCH larger than helmet sized. I guess being in a protected environment and able to eat all day long would promote unusual growth.

Matter of fact, there was another gopher tortoise that we sometimes saw closer to where we were staying, yet on the bike patch between the homes and Bowman's Beach Park that was, I'm guessing, around 16 inches long. I did a quick search for max size on the gopher tortoise and found this article -> http://www.nbc-2.com/story/28224450/gopher-tortoise-on-sanibel-could-be-largest-on-record

So I guess that size isn't unlikely at all.

I'll have to drive around the Key and see if any of the large ones are out and about. I drove around the Key last week, but saw no tortoises. I had heard of a huge Gopher tortoise in Lehigh Acres, but it turned out to be an escaped Sulcata. The largest Gophers in my area are about 16 inches. I saw two of them on my bike ride today. I also found a brightly colored corn snake and he was in a bad mood. I tried to hold on to him so I could take a picture and he struck me twice and then attacked my shoe. LOL. I had just told my grandson that corns were docile and I know he's not convinced now.