We went on a little excursion out into the desert here on the California side of the Colorado river. We followed Turtle Mountain Road -- a road through some public land -- and came upon three different desert tortoises along different parts of the road -- all trying to get across to the other side. It is rare to see these turtles so it was a real treat to see three. The one in the top picture was the biggest and the other one was medium size. The third one we saw was only two or three years old because it was pretty small. The big one had dirt on his back - probably from what ever whole he dug and lives in. The one we had at the wildlife refuge was called digger -- for a good reason -- they can really dig and have some good claws just for that purpose.
You aren't supposed to get to close to them. If they get scared they will spray their urine and they can't afford to lose that much water. It looked like a pretty long ways to any water where we saw them although they can get moisture from the food they eat. They love the pink and yellow flowers of the prickly pear/ beavertail cacti that are blooming everywhere now.
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