World Atlas calls 4 Mississippi lakes the most snake-infested in the state. Know how to ID venomous snakes and tell them ...

State officials are investigating after numerous recent gopher tortoise deaths at a popular beach destination.

Gopher tortoises, indigo snakes, and chickens: Citizens, officials discuss commercial poultry farm likely headed to southern Coffee County ...

Create gopher tortoise preserves; buy license plates Thank you to Treasure Coast Newspapers and Tim O'Hara for an excellent story regarding the loss of gopher tortoise burrows and the species that ...

Gopher Tortoises are considered a keystone species in that other animals depend on their burrows for survival. Tortoise burrows are used by over 350 other species, including the Burrowing Owl, and ...

Gopher tortoises create burrows that are disproportionately massive compared to their body size. The average gopher tortoise burrow measures 15-30 feet in length and 6-10 feet deep, though exceptional ...

Reporter Timothy O’Hara delves into the life of a gopher tortoise, its burrow and its importance.

Reporter Timothy O’Hara delves into the life of a gopher tortoise, its burrow and its importance.

It’s exactly those burrows that make the gopher tortoise so important, and why they’re the subject of such strong protections from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

This makes protecting gopher tortoises and their burrows vital not just for the survival of the species, but for the survival of Florida’s fragile ecosystem as a whole.

Gopher tortoise burrows can be more than 20 feet long, according to Meylan, providing critical shelter not just for the tortoises but also for hundreds of other animals that depend on them to ...