The sandy soils of Florida are prime habitat for our only tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus. Gopher tortoises thrive in many of our ecosystems, pine-oak sandhills, oak hammocks, prairies, flatwoods and coastal dunes. In order for a gopher tortoise to thrive it needs loose, sandy soil in which to burrow, adequate low growing plants for food, and sufficient sunlight for incubation of its nest.
Gopher tortoises require loose, sandy soil for digging their burrows. Their burrows run laterally underground for 30 to 40 feet, and to a depth of up to 18 feet – ending in a den. The burrow itself is as wide as the length of the tortoise so that it is able to turn around anywhere within its burrow. Along with the tortoise, these burrows provide shelter, and are shared by a number of other animals, such as the Eastern Indigo snake, pine snake, gopher frog, Florida mouse, rabbit, quail, armadillo, burrowing owl, and gopher cricket. A number of these animals, the gopher frog, the Florida mouse, and the gopher cricket, live most of their lives within the burrows, and would not survive without them.