2006 Rescue and Release

"Eleanor"

Eleanor is a 60 year old, 16 pound, 14 inch long Gopher Tortoise (possibly a Mexican Gopher Tortoise) who had a deep laceration to the top of her shell. Since she had been painted, she likely was at one time someone's pet. Eleanor was cared for by Melba Parker, of Petshop for You in Senatobia, before she was released on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

The Gopher Tortoise is Federally protected as a threatened species, and are often called wildlife landlords because their many underground burrows are essential to the well-being of more than 300 other wildlife species, especially if there is a fire.

The Gopher Tortoise is an obligate burrower with many adaptations for digging, like scales, limbs that are very stout and strong, and wide flat claws.

The shell of the tortoise (and all turtles) is an outgrowth of the skeleton and is their only means of protection. When the tortoise pulls his head completely into the shell and covers the openings with his limbs, there are very few predators, other than humans (and their cars), that can harm them.

Gopher Tortoises are herbivorous, although they will eat bones from dead animals, perhaps for the calcium. It wasn't that long ago, that Gopher Tortoises were captured from the wild, painted and kept as pets, which meant they could not reproduce and add new tortoises to the population. Tortoise racing was also popular, but the animals were rarely returned to their original home ranges after the races were over.

Since becoming protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, keeping tortoises as pets, racing them, or removing them from their home ranges is illegal.

Today, the greatest threat to the survival of the Gopher Tortoise is habitat destruction, as they cannot survive if they do not have undeveloped land with plenty of food and room to dig their burrows.