In the Backwoods: Gopher Tortoise

MOSI Outside's Backwoods Nature Preserve is made up of a variety of habitats, including upland sandhills that are perfect for one of Florida's most iconic dry land residents: the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). We have several active gopher tortoise burrows clustered together in the sandhill area, and a few others scattered around the site. The presence of these tortoises indicates a healthy and varied ecosystem, since the gopher tortoise's burrow can be 30 feet long and house as many as 250 different species along with the tortoise itself!

Gopher tortoises are ancient creatures, originating in North America 60 million years ago. Like most tortoises, they grow slowly (about .75 inches per year) and live very long lives - some more than 100 years. Full-grown adults measure about 16 inches in length and weigh around 30 pounds. It takes about 10 years for a gopher tortoise to reach sexual maturity, and females lay a clutch of about half a dozen eggs near the entrance to her burrow between April and July. Baby gopher tortoises generally spend at least the first winter of their lives with their mothers in her burrow.

Gopher tortoises mainly eat low-growing plants and grasses, including Gopher Apple (Licania michauxii), which has a sweet juicy fruit that's edible for humans as well. This plant's native range is just about the same as the gopher tortoise itself, growing throughout Florida and the Deep South. Gopher tortoises will occasionally scavenge for food, eating carrion and dung if they come across it, but vegetation is their food source of choice. Since they are creatures of dry sandy terrain, gopher tortoises get most of the water they need from their food, but are also known to use their front legs to catch rainwater that runs down into their burrows. It's extremely rare to see a gopher tortoise drinking from a pond or puddle.


In Florida, the gopher tortoise is listed as a Threatened Species. It suffers mostly from loss of habitat, as development destroys the dry sandhills they need to build their burrows. In the past, they were also harvested as a food source (during the Great Depression, they were known as "Hoover Chickens") and even used in the popular sport of tortoise racing (yup, really). These days, it is illegal to harvest or even disturb a gopher tortoise or its burrow in the state of Florida.

IMPORTANT: If you are visiting the sandhill area of MOSI's Backwoods Nature Preserve, please observe the tortoise burrows only from the designated path, and do not attempt to catch or handle any tortoises you may see. Please keep all dogs on leashes, and do not allow them to dig into the burrows or harass the tortoises.