Desert Tortoise Letterbox Hybrid
Hidden : 2/9/2010
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


Please remember that as a Letterbox Hybrid, the rubber stamp and ink pad should be left in the cache.

The Desert Tortoise was named Nevada's State Reptile in 1989. It is a Federally Listed Threatened Species, and the population has declined by as much as 90% in some areas of the Mojave Desert. Threats to the tortoise include predation, disease, and collection for pets, as well as habitat loss due to mining, grazing, off-highway vehicles, and development.

The Desert Tortoise can live up to 70 or more years in the wild. Females breed when they reach 15 to 20 years old, and lay a clutch of eggs in the apron of the burrow. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings may only be 3 inches in diameter. Hatchling and juvenile tortoises are in danger for several years until their shells harden when they reach 6-7 inches in length. Full grown adult tortoises may reach 12-13 inches in length for females, and 15-18 inches in length for males.

Tortoises may spend about 95% of their lifetimes underground. They will be in hibernation in the winter, and in a state called estivation in the summer. Tortoises are herbivores, so the majority of time they are out of their burrows is in the Spring, when grasses and wildflowers are putting on new growth. The best time to see a tortoise is on a warm day in the Spring after a rainfall. At this time, tortoises will come out of their burrows and look for water cachements from which to drink.

This Letterbox Hybrid is located in a valley in which I have seen several tortoises over the years. If you are fortunate enough to see a tortoise, approach it slowly from the front so that it can see you coming, and photograph it from a distance. Tortoises shouldn't be picked up or handled in any way, since a defensive mechanism is to empty its bladder.

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