Desert Tortoise.. you should see what they do at Fort Irwin for these things.... Its insane:
When you’re on Fort Irwin Road (20+ miles one way in), or exploring the desert. Hitting a desert tortoise could cost you a $50,000 fine and a year in jail!
Tortoise Relocating
In one part of the translocation process, Dr. Kritin Berry was in charge of moving 158 tortoises in March 2008:
By December 2008, 43 tortoises were dead or dying and 15 were missing.
By December 2009, 27 more tortoises died, and 20 were missing. The death rate so far was 44.7%.
In January 2010 only 68 tortoises were alive, 20 missing.
8 died in 2010 up to August, and a total of 23 missing; the mortality rate was 11.6%.
The grand total of all years was 49% dead by August, and 23 missing (where often a predator tore off the radio transmitter).
Dr. Berry stated that this was a very high death rate, mostly due to coyote and raven predation. Drought years such as 2007 exacerbated coyote predation. Even adult tortoises were being killed by ravens flipping the reptiles over and pecking at their cloaca and hindlegs. Feral dogs also are a problem. Two tortoises were killed by vehicles on dirt roads. One tortoise was bitten by a rattlesnake, and another was killed by a Golden eagle. A few died of hyperthermia (over-heating). One died of gout.
Too much time at the Desert Deli.