Gopher Tortoise

This cute guy lives at the Boy Scout camp.

The gopher tortoise digs burrows that are 10 to 50 feet long. Tortoise burrows provide homes for other animals, including snakes, frogs, owls, and rodents. The burrows are very important during forest fires, because they give these animals a safe place to hide. In Florida, the tortoise is a Species of Special Concern. This means that there are not many left because we build houses on their sandy habitats, and many are hit by cars