Gopher Tortoise Burrow

This video is courtesy of Lora Smith, Gopher Tortoise Council (www.gophertortoisecouncil.org) and Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, GA (www.jonesctr.org). Lora has led several gopher tortoise workshops at Birdsong Nature Center on behalf of the Gopher Tortoise Council. A population of gopher tortoises is found at Birdsong, and habitat is actively managed to support the animals. The video was recorded using a burrow camera built by Emmett Blankenship with Environmental Management Systems, Inc. Gopher Tortoise burrows are commonly used by many other forms of wildlife. Note the gopher cricket in this video. The following natural history information is courtesy of the Gopher Tortoise Council and further details can be found at www.gophertortoisecouncil.org. The gopher tortoise belongs to a group of land tortoises that originated in western North America nearly 60 million years ago. At least 23 species of tortoise are known to have existed on our continent since that time, but only five remain today. Four of the living species, the desert tortoise, Texas tortoise, Bolson tortoise, and Sonoran desert tortoise are found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The ancestors of gopher tortoises, along with those of scrub jays, burrowing owls, and short-tailed snakes, were part of a savanna fauna that migrated into the southeastern United States millions of years ago. Gopher tortoises occur in upland habitats throughout the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, with most being found in north-central Florida and southern Georgia. Their numbers have declined range-wide, but have been severely reduced at the western and northern part of their range. Gopher tortoise populations along Florida's southeast coast and the Florida Panhandle also are greatly reduced from their historic numbers. Gopher tortoises, or "gophers" as they are commonly called, live in extensive subterranean burrows in dry upland habitats. The habitats where gopher tortoises are found include longleaf pine sandhills, xeric oak hammocks, scrub, pine flatwoods, dry prairies, and coastal dunes. Tortoises can also live in man-made environments, such as pastures, old fields, and grassy roadsides. To be suitable for gopher tortoises, the habitat must have well-drained sandy soils for digging burrows, herbaceous food plants, and open sunny areas for nesting and basking. Periodic natural fires play an important role in maintaining tortoise habitat by opening up the canopy and promoting growth of herbaceous food plants. If natural fires are suppressed, habitats may become unsuitable for tortoises. Today, land managers use prescribed fire to maintain tortoise habitat. The gopher tortoise is listed as threatened in Georgia and Florida and a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.