Why did the endangered Desert Tortoise cross the road???

            On Monday, April 6, I was driving back from my latest wildflower adventure via the Randsburg Road.  The flowers around Ridgecrest were pretty much toast, and I was feeling kinda disappointed.  Cuising along, I spotted what looked like a good-sized rock in my lane near the middle of the road.  Then I realized it was moving!  The afternoon sun was glaring brightly, but I could see the silhouette of a desert tortoise crossing and it was about to meet up with an 18-wheeler heading right for it.  

I don't know what I was thinking, but I honked and for whatever reason, the tortoise stopped just six inches from the center line on my side and pulled into its shell.  As I pulled over, the huge truck blew past in the opposite lane, barely missing the tortoise.  If that tortoise had kept moving rather than freezing when I honked, the truck quite likely would have run over it.  

I jumped out of the car and headed for the tortoise.  It was still tucked in its shell, so I picked it up and carried it safely to its apparent destination on the other side of the road.  I set it down on a patch of sandy dirt near some shrubs a fair distance from the pavement.

It was a good sized tortoise, about 14 inches in length.  It had a healed-over cracked shell, so it's already had a challenging life.  Very cool looking though.  I've only seen one in a zoo before.  (I've posted a picture of its beautiful shell too.)
 
And yes, once the tortoise was safe, I obviously ran back to get my camera.  Since I knew it could only move slowly, I figured I at least had a chance of getting its picture before it disappeared into the desert. 

So here is the official rescued tortoise portrait.  Not to worry, I was using my telephoto to capture this image so I wouldn't further traumatize the animal by getting in its face with my lens.  I had to laugh when I downloaded the image.  As you can see, in the moments it took me to retrieve my camera, the tortoise had chomped on some vegetation.  Interesting that once it was out of danger, it's first reaction was to eat.  Comfort food!  I'm sure we can all relate!!!

For the record, I know it's illegal to touch, annoy, capture, harm or otherwise bother these animals.  Under the circumstances, I figured it was more efficient and safer for both human and tortoise to carefully but quickly pick it up and carry it to the other side rather than attempt to stop traffic until the tortoise could cross at its own pace.  (IMHO, the road could use some yellow "Desert Tortoise Crossing" signs.  After all this is an official "natural area" preserved for them.  Doesn't help when vehicles speed through or go off highway.  Take a lesson from the tortoise, slow down.  You'll still get there and you might save a life!)

***All of my photos and written text on Flickr are copyrighted, © Kahlee Brighton, All Rights Reserved. If you're interested in using any of my material, please contact me directly.***

Taken on: April 8, 2009

Tags:

Kern County

Spring

Mojave Desert Tortoise

endangered

Desert Tortoise Preserve

Randsburg Road « less

Sets appears in: • Wildlife (Friends Only) • Red Rock and Jawbone Canyons more » • Huell Tribute (TBA) « less

Groups appears in: • California Desert (Wildflowers & Wildlife)

Stats: 811 views / 22 comments

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