Here's a neat video I took of a super small baby gopher tortoise – this cute little fella was only about two inches in diameter. He fit into the palm of my hand – take a look at the leaves and the grass in the video for scale.  Click here to see the video.

The gopher tortoise grows less than an inch per year, so that means that the little guy here was only a couple of years old at the most. Given the right conditions, gopher tortoises can live for over 100 years!

You can find the gopher tortoise pretty much all over Florida, but they are more common in the central and northern regions, where they burrow in the sandy soils of upland habitats and in natural dunes along the beach. The next time you are out and about, take a look around - I’ve recently seen a dozen or more while biking along the Withlacoochee State Trail.

Want more information? Check out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s page with maps, history, habitat information, and news about the gopher tortoise.