Will Indian River County let RSG of Vero Beach build Ridge Top neighborhood atop 600 gopher tortoise burrows in Wabasso?

The sheer number of species that rely on a gopher tortoise burrow for survival, roughly 365, and the diversity of creatures ...

Samantha didn’t know it when she bought her peaceful 2-acre property, but there were at least two gopher tortoises already living beneath her future dream home site. A survey by a local biologist ...

Each tortoise can occupy two or three burrows, which rival human homes in protecting them from heat, fire, hurricanes and flooding. They instinctively know to dig just above the water table.

Because tortoises live up to 100 years, Moore worried about two more things: sea level rise washing out their burrows; and recipient sites, especially private ones, eventually being developed.

Yet despite its vulnerability, the gopher tortoise is considered a keystone species; its burrows — both active and abandoned ...

Each tortoise can occupy two or three burrows, which rival human homes in protecting them from heat, fire, hurricanes and flooding. They instinctively know to dig just above the water table.

Because tortoises live up to 100 years, Moore worried about two more things: sea level rise washing out their burrows; and recipient sites, especially private ones, eventually being developed.

Gopher tortoise burrows can be more than 20 feet long, according to Meylan, providing critical shelter not just for the tortoises but also for hundreds of other animals that depend on them to ...