Tortoise

I saw my first Desert Tortoise today! We went out with a GPS unit loaded with data points from preliminary surveys for tortoise burrows and found several. We found a promising looking burrow and used a fiber optic scope to look down into it. I looked through the eyepiece, and after some adjustments there was a tortoise looking right into the camera! He was very curious and soon after that we pulled out the scope and he crawled up to the surface to watch us. He was almost 12 inches wide.

I also saw a huge family of quails and some neat types of barrel cacti. Unfortunately, this strip of land is surrounded by new developments and a golf course. On top of that, people use the land illegally to ride ATVs and there is a lot of broken glass in certain spots. It was awesome seeing the tortoise, but a little depressing that so many people overlook them. There are about 100 other burrows on this little island of wilderness.