NOTES ON FLORIDA TURTLES 



291 



had seen sharks attack these big turtles. 

 The turtle would raise itself out of the 

 water and splash with all four flippers, 

 frightening- off the shark for a moment ; 

 but sooner or later the turtle would at- 

 tempt to escape by diving, and then the 

 shark, ordinarily, would seize it from 

 behind, shearing off one flipper, and 

 sometimes leaving a semicircular mark 

 on the shell itself. 



On one occasion Mr. Coles saw a 

 great shark, which he provisionally 

 identified as a white shark, attack and 



seize a big loggerhead turtle, disappear- 

 ing with it. Next day ho found the 

 damaged turtle on the surface of the 

 water unable to dive, and harpooned it. 

 He found a semicircle twenty-four 

 inches across and twelve inches deep, 

 torn out of the two shells on one side of 

 the turtle, which gives a good idea of 

 the width and depth of the shark's bite. 

 The strength of the gopher tortoise 

 we captured was great. If I stood on it, 

 it would start to walk off with me, not 

 seeming to be bothered by the weight. 



"GOPHER PULLING" IN FLORIDA 



GOrilER PULLING is a unique sport. 

 . Although it may be looked down 

 . upon by those sportsmen Avho enjoy 

 shooting wild fowl on the wing, it is recog- 

 nized by the legislators, for in Florida there 

 are laws regulating the open and close 

 seasons, and fixing the minimum size of 

 gophers that may be taken,i just as there 

 are for brook trout and black bass in the 

 northern states. 



In the southeastern states, the name 

 "gopher" is not applied to a ratlike rodent, 

 as it is in the upper Mississippi Valley and 

 the Avestern states. This is true in spite of 

 the fact that in Florida and neighboring 

 states there is a true pocket gopher {Geomys 

 tusa) — but it is known to all the inhabitants 

 as the "salamander." How this inappro- 

 priate name became attached to the gopher, 

 it would be interesting to know. 



While the true gopher of Florida is uni- 

 versally known as a "salamander," the 

 animal, which in this section is known as 

 a "gopher," is really a tortoise or turtle. 

 The gopher tortoise {Testudo polyphemus) 

 is strictly terrestrial and lives in burrows 

 Avhieh it digs for itself, the forelegs being 

 especially well fitted for excavating. The 

 burrows are always dug in Avell-drained, 

 sandy soil of the pine-barren regions, and 



^ In the three most western counties of Florida, 

 by the provisions of an act passed in 1909, it is 

 unlawful to take or sell any gophers during the 

 months of May, June, and July, and by the "same 

 law "to take or sell them of a size less than nine (9) 

 inches in length of the under shell" is prohibited. 



are so abundant in Avestern and central 

 Florida that several burrows can often be 

 found on a single acre of the higher parts 

 of the "piney" woods. The burroAvs are 

 from tAvelve to thirty feet in length, the 

 greater number being from fifteen to tAventy. 

 They are usually quite straight, although 

 sometimes stumps, roots, or other obstruc- 

 tions have made crooks or turns necessary. 

 They slope gradually dowuAvard so that the 

 loAver end is usually about five or six feet 

 loAver than the entrance. Gopher burroAvs 

 are a source of danger to hunters on horse- 

 back Avho folloAv the hounds in pursuit of 

 the gray fox, and to the Avoods-rider of the 

 turpentine orchard. Many a running horse 

 has fallen and throAvn its rider by stepping 

 into a gopher burroAV. The gopher's burrow 

 is frequently resorted to by rabbits, skunks, 

 gray foxes Avhen hard pressed, and even by 

 diamond-back rattlesnakess— just as a rabbit 

 adopts the burroAV of a Avoodehuek in the 

 northern states. 



The gopher tortoise is herbivorous, and 

 feeds upon grass and the leaves of various 

 plants. An examination of the digestive 



- Living in the burrows with the gophers Ave 

 found two interesting animals, one a parasite and 

 one a commensal insect. The former was the large 

 gopher-tick {Aiuhlnorninn tiihfrculatum Marx), the 

 latter was the gopher-cricket {CeiifhoiJliitus latibuli 

 Scudder). This is really a cricket-like grasshopper 

 which is closely allied to the colorless and blind 

 cave crickets. Had Ave been entomologists, we 

 should probably have observed several other peculiar 

 insect guests in the gopher burrows. (See Hub- 

 bard, Henry G., The Insect Cxuests of the Florida 

 Land Tortoise, Insect Life, 6 : 302-,'}15, May, 1894.) 



