THE DESERT TORTOISE 259 



temperature of 249*" F. To be out under such 

 conditions is literally to be cooked alive. The 

 tortoises are wise enough to be under the rocks 

 and bushes then and to confine their feeding to 

 the night hours. Sometimes in summer they pass 

 into a state of dormancy and do not eat at all. 



In late October and early November, when 

 the nights begin to get snappy, they begin to 

 "hole up," as the desert people say, seeking the 

 shelter of the ground for the winter's sleep. 

 Tortoises found in winter are numb and seem- 

 ingly Ufeless. Strange it is, but they do not 

 then have their heads drawn in under the cara- 

 pace for protection. The eyes are closed, and 

 nothing but heat will arouse them. 



Desert tortoises, like turtles, are always slow 

 of foot, and when approached they seem to 

 know immediately that the best thing to do is 

 to stop abruptly and draw in their heads and 

 feet. In this latter act they are remarkably and 

 almost ridiculously quick — so quick, indeed, 

 that they give no creature the least chance to 

 injure them. As the head is drawn in, they 

 forcibly eject through their tiny nostrils the air 

 from their lungs and so produce a rather alarm- 



