gopher turtle mating season

[RebelCritter]

The season of love is upon us for our little hard shelled gopher tortoise friends. It runs now through the end of the hot, summer season.

So, everybody be on the lookout for the amorous little critters, because they get flipped over upside down during the mating ritual. If their "partner" does not help them get upright, they will be stuck, upside down, to die in the sun. I found one this morning, stuck upside down, all curled up in its shell and drooling.

I have at least 4 of them living on my property, and they were ALL out and about this morning....which is unusual, because they usually aren't out and about until much later in the day. They're horny little devils and do LOTS of socializing during this time, so keep an eye out....and if you get to witness the head-butting dance they do that tends to get one or both of them flipped over, it's really cool...and you can hear their shells butting up against each other from the other side of the barn! They are quite interesting, and I just love mine! :nod:

 

[Jogeephus]

I truly enjoy having the gophers in my life. They are neat and seem to have an auro of wisdom about them. I do everything possible to insure they are healthy on our land. I just hope the govmint doesn't pass some stupid laws trying to protect them cause I'd hate to see them disappear.

 

[BIGC]

we got about 20 on my place, use to have about 45. Dont know if they died or moved off. Got some as small as a cup, two that would not fit in a 5gal bucket. My kids and me enjoy having them around. When i was a kid my granddad would cook'm in a soup or fry like chicken. I dont let that happen any more. They seem to like silk grass, I got a lot of that.
Watch out for old shake - my - tail they like to share the same holes!

 

[2/B or not 2/B]

I've never heard of a gopher turtle. Is it like a jackalope? Can you post some pictures or something?

 

[Jogeephus]

I've never heard of a gopher turtle. Is it like a jackalope? Can you post some pictures or something?

This one weighs about 10 lbs. They are very docile and come up from their holes and graze the grass during the day.

This is a male. You can see the lip on the front of his shell which he uses to flip other males over in their fights over mating rights. Also not the flipper-like feet. Some say these are actually sea turtles that got stuck on land when the ocean receded leaving us this wonderful beach sand we farm.

 

[Lammie]

I think if would be great if I could turn Steve over and leave him if he were not "doing the job".

Someone turn Steve over! His wife's flipped him again!

 

[Bullbuyer]

Now that's a battle that might be interesting on Animal Planet - I'm getting tired of seeing the alligator vs. antelope - not really much of a fight.