... These ancient ones have been around since dinosaur times! They are native to the Mojave and Senoran deserts of the Southwest. I’ll post some more links below on this fascinating creature! Southern Utah has vast areas of reserve to protect them. :) We always feel blessed to spot one and steer clear of them and their foraging. Live on....ancient one of the deserts! :) Thanks for tuning in today Appics community and Steem Blockchain. Have a beautiful day in your part of the world! -Jake and the Raw Utah family
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Good morning @rawutah. Safely back from a vacation to visit our "eastern" (those in the eastern U.S.) and slowly catching up a bit on some of my favorite posters on our Steem blockchain.
Amazing you had the blessing of seeing one of these. Out of curiosity, how remote was where you were hiking? I have been "out and about" in some very remote locations in the Sonora desert and never saw one of these. I can imagine the excitement you experienced upon finding one.
Yes, they are amazing creatures. Fresh reminder, as part of the trip, of our visits here and here. I don't know if you've ever heard of Ken Ham, an Australian whose life work is on display at both of these locations in northern Kentucky. We were enormously blessed by our opportunity to experience them both ...
At both, dinosaurs are prominently displayed ... 😊
Good morning my friend!!!! I've been wondering how you have been doing...and how the trip back East was for you. :)) Thanks so much for checking in on us here. WELCOME HOME! Hmmm...I'll look up Ken Ham. Never heard of him or his work. Thank YOU!!!!! I look forward to any posts you share of your travels. They are always so very good!
As far as the location of the tortoise sighting, we were not remote at all. Just north of Hurricane. My grandfather owned large swaths of land...just north of hurricane. he would drive us on the old dirt roads and we would see them. i grew up in what appears to be one of the major tortoise hubs of activity...in these converging deserts. we saw them often ...through my youth...and still do. here's the exact hike, we spotted this one.
http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/west-cinder-knoll
For the last 20 years, they have slowly added tortoise walls, to keep them from crossing roads and entering the town. i truly wonder how much this has trapped them....in one area. it's possibly made it much easier to spot them too. we often see a few of them that make it past the tortoise gates somehow...and cross the roads. we gently place them on the safe side of the road. the map...of the hike i listed above...is such a great spot....to see them!! from what i can tell, they can roam all the way down to the virgin river and all along the red cliffs reserve laterally.....to st. george. so grateful they are protected. grandpa, had to sell some of his land to help protect them. ;)
have a beautiful day my friend. we have missed you!!!
Wow! Thank you for the kind thoughts @rawutah. And for a little bit of a history lesson of your area and the legacy of your Grandpa. Do you consider yourself a bit of a "chip off the old block?" 🙂
Love the idea you can so readily see such a special creature nearby. A great legacy to pass on to your children! 👍
We think of you regularly as we have "set sail" on our own version of "permaculture." Long, long way to go, but we are really enjoying it. Lots of thoughts and ideas. Who knows, maybe someday I will catch up enough to write a post about it ... 😉
Until next time, all the best to you and yours!
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thanks so much for your words my friend. yes, i do consider myself a chip off the ol' block. grandpa LOVED to plant trees. in fact, he put me on a hose at age 5 watering his many trees. one of my happiest memories near his last year of life...was him coming to the food forest...and the joy in his eyes and words as he saw the food growing. a glimmer of hope is what i felt from him. he even brought over a few of his world war 2 buddies to see it. i am so grateful for his life work...and his love of trees...and this land. :)
Wow! That is a wonderful legacy to have @rawutah! I can only imagine what it would have meant to you that he could experience literally the fruits of your hard work, before he passed into eternity. Thank you for sharing that! 😊
Just like Steem; patience and consistency towards success and survival!
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yesssss my brother!!!!!! :)
Very cool... it's actually pretty darn rare!
Where were you?
we've seen them fairly regularly through the years just north of hurricane. this trail is great for spotting them. it's where we spotted this one. http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/west-cinder-knoll
east cinder knoll also: http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/east-cinder-knoll
...
Turtles are amazing and need to be preserved. :)
Enjoy and have fun, my brother. Aloha!
they are amazing! i hope they flourish in this area for many many many years ...to come! :) thank you sister. aloha!!! :)
You can always trust the tortoise, tortoise dont bother nobody.
learn more about the desert tortoise of this area right here: https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/06/23/avm-desert-tortoise-101-history-conservation-efforts-rules-for-safe-enjoyable-encounters/
"Red Cliffs Desert Reserve" http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/
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