Those attending Lunch and Learn on September 10th were able to meet Goliath, a sixty year old desert tortoise, when he was brought to Good Shepherd by our speaker, Ann McLuckie. Ann, one of our church members, is a wildlife biologist with a special knowledge and study of the desert tortoise, a reptile, native to the state of Utah.

Tortoises are turtles but are a different kind of turtle in that they live their entire lives on the land. They are tied to their shells and don’t molt to grow larger. Instead, areas around each plate comprising their shells have the ability to grow and the shell becomes increasingly hardened over time for defense against predators. To protect themselves from the elements, either heat or cold, they live in burrows they have dug and which can be as deep as 15 to 17 feet.

The environment can be especially unkind to newly hatched tortoises because they receive no parental care. After mating, the female can decide when she wants to lay her eggs and may wait as long as five years to deposit them in a hole she digs in the ground. Beginning around age twenty until age sixty, up to three times a year, she can lay up to fourteen eggs with the average being five. After laying them, she walks away. When the eggs hatch in about three months, they are extremely vulnerable to predators so that only about 5% of them survive. In addition to Goliath, Ann brought a tortoise hatchling for us to see. When one considers its small size and soft shell, it is understandable that, upon hatching, the little ones could be in for tough times. However if they can beat the odds, a tortoise can live to be one hundred.

The desert tortoise is physically equipped to survive in the harsh desert. Because water can be in short supply, they are able to store it in their urinary bladders and can even reabsorb water from the bladder during exceedingly dry times to stay hydrated. Tortoises are herbivores and sometimes, the only water they can get is moisture from plants they eat.

Not only is the tortoise vulnerable to natural predators, but also in recent years, humans, disease, and invasion of their habitats by urban development have resulted in reductions of their population and food sources. We learned what steps to take to disturb them as little as possible. Should we encounter them, we are encouraged to gently guide a tortoise away from harm, if necessary, but otherwise, leave them untouched.

We appreciate Ann’s talk and sharing of her vast knowledge of the desert tortoise.

The video of the entire program is available on our YouTube channel. If you would like to listen to the audio only, it can be found here.