Tortoise 317679 "bolts" upslope...

Just now checking the satellite-tagged tortoises after 10 days in the field ... very surprised to see Tortoise 317679 (yellow line below), who had been sedentary since release, "bolting" over 300 m in a single day (the day before yesterday) and another 100 m the next (up to yesterday). Who knows what the motivation is (possibly another tortoise? ...it will be interesting to overlay the tracks of each tortoise at the end of the season). The tortoise is behaving most hare-like! A distance of 300 m (or about yards) might not seem like much but for a massive "cold-blooded" reptile it's quite a feat. The other two satellite-tagged tortoises seem to have settled into their respective ranges ...
















- James, Santa Cruz Island