. Denizens of the desert; a book of southwestern mammals, birds, and reptiles, by Edmund C. Jaeger .. . ce with the desert hares; for inthose days Agassiz tortoises were plentiful allover both the Colorado and Mohave Desertsand in southern Nevada. Generally these tortoises are found on theflat plots of ground of the high rocky mesaswhere a fair abundance of succulent, growingherbs assures them of an abundant food supply,at least during the spring season. During Apriland May, when both days and nights are balmyand warm, they are out feeding at all when traveling at night I have seen
. Denizens of the desert; a book of southwestern mammals, birds, and reptiles, by Edmund C. Jaeger .. . ce with the desert hares; for inthose days Agassiz tortoises were plentiful allover both the Colorado and Mohave Desertsand in southern Nevada. Generally these tortoises are found on theflat plots of ground of the high rocky mesaswhere a fair abundance of succulent, growingherbs assures them of an abundant food supply,at least during the spring season. During Apriland May, when both days and nights are balmyand warm, they are out feeding at all when traveling at night I have seen themby aid of the brilliant moonlight. As soon as thereal blistering days of summer come, not a tor-toise can be seen by day. No animals except afew of the insects and lizards can stand theintense heat radiated then from the glaringrocks and sands and soda flats. At a point nearAmboy on the Mohave Desert the temperaturehas been known to be as high as 136° F. in theshade at midday, falling to only 114° F. by twooclock the morning following. A special ther-mometer placed in the open sun recorded a. w w W mo w H H SO Q G QW o o «O H HW V) WO THE DESERT TORTOISE 259 temperature of 249* F. To be out under suchconditions is literally to be cooked alive. Thetortoises are wise enough to be under the rocksand bushes then and to confine their feeding tothe night hours. Sometimes in summer they passinto a state of dormancy and do not eat at all. In late October and early November, whenthe nights begin to get snappy, they begin tohole up, as the desert people say, seeking theshelter of the ground for the winters found in winter are numb and seem-ingly Ufeless. Strange it is, but they do notthen have their heads drawn in under the cara-pace for protection. The eyes are closed, andnothing but heat will arouse them. Desert tortoises, like turtles, are always slowof foot, and when approached they seem toknow immediately that the best thing to do isto stop abruptly and draw
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1922
