Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Gopher Tortoise preserves
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Old 06-19-2024, 09:35 PM
Cliff Fr Cliff Fr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueblaze View Post
I don't think who owns them is all that relevant. I just think it's really weird that we have these grassland "preserves" for woodland creatures, that don't ordinarily live on the plains or eat grass. And it's really weird that these poor exiled woodland creatures that live in the ground are stuck in a "preserve" that gets mowed regularly. It just doesn't make much logical sense.

It's a lot of land that isn't really preserving anything, that could be easily used for other low-impact activities without bothering the "protected" creatures.

But, on the bright side, I was reading that black snakes use gopher tortoise holes to hatch their young, which probably explains why there are so many black snakes in my adjacent neighborhood. I'd much rather have snakes than palm rats!
Gopher tortoises are considered a key stone species because other species such as the black snake you mentioned use their burrows