Desert tortoise

By Colton.K

Appearance

I have a hard upper shell, don’t crush me it’s not that hard! I have flattened fore limbs for burrowing. I hear they don’t work on this floor. My rear limbs are column- like. I have a gular horn for fighting other males. I will never forget that time when I lost to that giant armadillo, over there, even though he doesn't have a gular horn.I am 7-15 cm tall. I’m 22-37 cm lengthwise I weigh 3.6kg-6.8kg. I’m greenish to dark brown. I have a have a short tail. I have a small retractable rounded head. According to calculations I have a lower shell called the plastron.

Diet

Well, I do very much eat herbs, grasses and shrubs. Plus, also I eat wild flowers and a wide variety of desert plants, not including cacti though I hear they’re too yucky. The other adults and me can survive approximately a year without water. Except I could use a glass of water.

Habitat

I live in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. I hear beaches are mini deserts. I have a tiny list of nesting grounds such as sandy canyon bottoms, sandy parts of deserts that are 140 degrees F and semi-arid grasslands. Plus, I spend 95% of my life underground. I hibernate underground from November to the end of February.

Reproduction

My mate lays the eggs. The temperature determines if we’re a male or a female. [79-87 degrees] means a male and [88-91 degrees] is a female. I’m happy I wasn’t born in [88-91 degrees].Few of us make it to adult hood. The eggs are laid in a shallow pit dug by my me and my mate lays 4 to 8 eggs in May , June and July.The nests are dug near my burrow my mates burrow, that giant armidillos burrow, that cheetahs burrow that Zorros burrow. Oh wait,only me and my mate’s burrow. It takes 90-to 120 days tell the eggs hatch.

Care of Offspring

My mate and I abandon them. Long live little eggs!

Natural Enemies

Well gila monsters, kit foxes, badgers,road zoomers I mean runners and coyotes. Plus, evil ravens are my major enemies. They mostly prey on our young-the juveniles who are just 5-8 cm long and have very delicate shells.

Am I Endangered?

I used to be endangered, I’m now threatened and this is why. First of all, urban expansion destroys my habitat and increases the number of ravens and I’m their easiest prey, for your information.We get diseases from you and you and you and you if you’ve been to the desert. Plus, you’ve put cows on my land and you humans illegally collect me for my shell! Raven ! Hide for your life.

Bibliography

http://static.flickr.com/50/130950800_ff35fe9991.jpg

http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/FF/FFB1BF39-D6EA-4120-B0A2-7FDB8D702AEB/Presentation.Large/Desert-tortoise-eggs-and-hatchling.jpg

http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/B7/B72E06FE-DE5C-427C-A4AA-5CFCB2DA4B67/Presentation.Medium/Desert-tortoise-in-burrow.jpg

http://www.californiadesert.gov/imagefiles/animals/raven_small.jpg

http://www.turtleseatingthings.com/sites/default/files/images/turtles/20111104-desert-dessert-tort-flying.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1344/5102587832_42886d5e3c.jpg

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/26/89/0a/namib-desert-1.jpg