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- This is our oldest and largest desert tortoise,
Tortellini, taking his first long drink of the summer.
- He's about 30 years old. His shell is as big
as a dinner plate. He was raised from a baby as a pet and given
to us by a friend when she moved away from the desert.
- Tortellini has a large pen with two burrows
in our front yard. One we call his "winter" burrow where he hibernates;
the other is his "summer" burrow where he often escapes from the
summer sun.
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- In the summer, he comes out of his burrow in the cool
of the morning or at dusk or when it rains!
- Our dog Tessa is a hunter. Tortellini used to roam
free in our backyard. When we adopted Tessa, we had to move all of our
tortoises to the front yard.
- Tortellini gets along well with our other tortoises.
Boris-Doris is a female about the same age as Tortellini. She has a
separate pen. Boris-Doris has laid at least three clutches of eggs.
We have given away all but two of the young tortoises to good homes.
The ones we have kept live in a large pen covered with chicken wire
to keep them safe from owls and other predators.
- Our tortoises provided the inspiration and information
to write my two-voice poem called "Desert Lowriders."
Sing Down the Rain
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