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Are Gopher Tortosies (Gopherus Polyphemus Daudin) Comapatible With Cows?, Thomas William Hentges
Are Gopher Tortosies (Gopherus Polyphemus Daudin) Comapatible With Cows?, Thomas William Hentges
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Many Gopher Tortoise populations are in steep decline throughout Florida, and various measures have been attempted to curb the trend. One such measure is to relocate tortoises to protected recipient sites on private lands. The majority of private lands in Florida are used for cattle, however, production and the effect of cattle production on tortoises is not known. Here, I tested six parameters of tortoise behavior by monitoring 1403 gopher tortoises released at the Barthle Brothers Ranch, Pasco County Florida, between August 2009 and December 2012. The parameters tested were (1) burrow density, (2) burrow spacing, (3) burrow relocation, (4) …