The Gopher Tortoise is an herbivore that feeds on low growing plants like broadleaf grasses, wiregrass, prickly bear grass, grapes, blackberries, blueberries, and the gopher apple, which is a small plant that grows little apple like fruits that taste like bubblegum.

Gopher Tortoises get their water from the plants they eat. They live in a tunnel-like burrow that they dig up with their front feet which act like a shovel. These burrows can be up to 40 feet in length and ten feet in depth! Each burrow has one opening, the opening’s width is the approximate length of the Gopher Tortoise that made it. Gopher tortoises like to make their burrows in well drained sand like soil.

The Gopher Tortoise is very important to the environment because their dens offer homes and protection to 350 different species. That is why we call the Gopher Tortoise a keystone species.

Gopher Tortoise: State Threatened

The Gopher Tortoise as of right now is threatened. Due to habitat loss, particularly from development. People generally build their houses in the same high, dry habitat that the Gopher Tortoise likes. They have no idea that the tortoise is living there and they just start digging up the land.

How You Can Help the Gopher Tortoise

Here’s what you can do to help the Gopher Tortoise. Do not touch them or feed them. Give them their space. Before digging up land for a new house, check for Gopher Tortoises. If they are living there, call a local preserve or park about moving them.

Thanks for reading!