[4$ALE]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze

Has anybody ever wondered why there are all those gopher tortoise "preserves" on the North side? It's really odd when you think about it. Why would you regularly mow a wildlife sanctuary, especially one dedicated to creatures that live on the ground? Are gopher tortoises even on the endangered list? There's another one dedicated to the "Burrowing Owl", which actually makes its nest IN the ground -- and yet, it too, is regularly mowed.

Is the Gopher Tortoise or Burrowing Owl endangered? No, but they are considered "threatened in Florida", which simply means their habitat is being replaced by human development. So, is a regularly-mowed field the natural habitat for gopher tortoises or burrowing owls? No, their habitat is the oak and pine forests that were cut down to build The Villages. In fact, both species are about as "threatened" as the forest they live in, and while Florida may have fewer wild forests, there is actually more forest land in North America today than there was when Columbus discovered it. So it's hard to imagine what is being conserved by placing a few tortoises or owls in a mowed field forbidden to residents. The "preserve" on Belle Meade, for instance, is so over-crowded that the tortoises regularly burrow under the fence and are found in the adjacent neighborhood, or crushed on Belle Meade. It's no mystery why they try to escape -- the mystery is what so many tortoises find to eat there. They are herbivores. So we're preserving them by forcing them to graze on mowed Bermuda grass? It seems a little cruel.

There are resident activities that could easily use those spaces without harming any tortoises -- certainly not as much as mowing them! I heard that the model airplane club was recently kicked out of the Polo Grounds after 15 years, because a 2 pound electric plane crashed 20ft from a polo horse. Meanwhile, there is a 50 acre gopher tortoise preserve just north of the Polo Grounds. Why weren't they flying there? How much damage can an electric model airplane do, just flying over a mowed field, even if someone actually crashed into a tortoise every 15 years? They live in the ground, for crying out loud! They have a hard shell! They don't even come out of their burrows until the afternoon!

And what harm would it do if some people chose to do their walking around a field full of tortoises, instead of the cart lane of a busy street? Maybe if we let people connect with the tortoises and get interested in preserving them, they'd get fed something a little closer to their natural diet than bermuda grass, once in a while!

It's just weird. I understand that there is land that can't be developed for some reason, and maybe the developer gets a tax break or something for those vacant lots, if he calls them a "preserve". But has anybody ever checked to see if they'd actually lose that benefit if the residents got to use them in limited ways as well? The Everglades is a preserve, too. But I can still drive through it, or even hunt snakes and alligators in it, with the proper permit!

You do know that piece of property is owned by District 2 ..... NOT THE DEVELOPER, RIGHT?


Gopher Tortoise Rules and Regulations | FWC