300 



THE MUSEUM. 



rel, besides the subject of this paper 

 and two other species of land tortoise. 



The Florida gopher or land tortoise 

 [Gophcriis poljphciniis)dL\erd.ges about 

 eleven inches in length by five in 

 heigth. Like other burrowing animals 

 it excavates a dwelling place in the 

 earth, the spot chosen being a sandy 

 tract elevated somewhat above the 

 surrounding country, such as the high 

 pine or scrub lands so common in 

 Florida. In such localities the earth 

 is composed almost entirely of pure 

 sand, free from all obstructions except 

 occasional roots of the pine, or tbe 

 scrub oak and the saw palmetto. 



Here the gopher in its early life ex- 

 cavates a small hole, which it inhabits 

 and enlarges as it grows, until finally 

 it extends, at an angle of between 30 

 degrees and 40 degrees and in a 

 straight course, to a distance of ten to 

 twenty feet underground. In this 

 habitation it lives year after year for 

 upwards of a hundred years, some 

 think all of two hundred years, for 

 their tenacity of life excels that of 

 most other animals. A pair, male 

 and female, occupy the abode together, 

 and rarely change it for another, not 

 even when the settler clears the sur- 

 rounding land. 



The animal seems to have no natur- 

 al enemies to destroy it; with the rare 

 exception of death by forest fires, it 

 probably seldom succumbs to anything 

 except extreme old age. 



When the young gopher is not over 

 two inches in length — about two years 

 of age — it is often living in a dwelling 

 of its own construction. It is interest- 

 ing and amusing to watch one of these 

 baby-like artisans as he enlarges or 

 cleans out his retreat. They are all — 

 both old and young — quite shy, but by 



keeping quiet their interrupted, oper- 

 ations will presently be resumed. The 

 little ones are rarely seen at work, how- 

 ever, owing to their small size and col- 

 or which latter very closely harmonizes 

 with that of the surrounding dead 

 grasses and leaves. A young one oc- 

 cupied a sandy ridge near my place for 

 several years, and I thus had a good 

 opportunity to watch it. Its growth 

 was extremely slow, in fact I could 

 never feel quite certain that he had 

 grown in the least in all the time I 

 knew him. The young occupy separ- 

 ates holes alone until they are old 

 enough to pair. 



The fore feet and legs of the gopher 

 are admirably calculated for excavat- 

 ing. From the first joint to the end 

 they are considerably flattened and 

 flipper-like, and provided with five 

 sharp toe-nails. The flippers of the 

 true aquatic species are fashioned 

 mainly for locomotion, but the flipper- 

 like fore leg or aim of the gopher is 

 made almost solely for digging in the 

 earth. Thus, when the gopher walks, 

 the nails and the extreme end edges 

 only of the fore feet rest on the ground, 

 and are used in a most awkward man- 

 ner. On hard ground the imprints of 

 the nails alone are visible; in fact the 

 edges of the feet do not reach the sur- 

 face at all. 



It is different with the hind legs and 

 feet, however; they closely resemble 

 those of the elephant, and are used 

 mainly for walking and pushing, being 

 united in a general mass to the toe- 

 nails, which latter are flattened and 

 about one-fourth of an inch in length. 

 The animal's main powers of locomo- 

 tion rest in these members, the fore 

 legs being used more for holding the- 

 body clear of the ground than for very 



