Herpetofauna: One Life's List
Gopherus morafkai
Sonoran Desert Tortoise
Pima Co., Arizona
August 15, 2006
"...Coming up over a saddle we found ourselves near the back of the Desert Museum, perhaps a half mile away from us. Here we made an exciting discovery - a young adult Desert Tortoise, out for a crawl near the trail. This was a first for all of us, and I was quite overwhelmed - here was an animal I had wanted to see for many years. It appeared to be a female, and as she crawled away I circled her, shooting pictures as she crawled into the shade under a palo verde. We did not pick her up or even touch her - our presence was disturbing enough. Her beak was stained green with whatever plant she had been munching on that morning. I thought she was beautiful, and for me she was the best find of the trip..."
