Actually, no one saw the reindeer do it, so it’s not fair to place blame. But the fact remains that Grandma Gopher Tortoise was admitted to the Peace River Wildlife Center after having been hit by a vehicle of some sort. She was lucky that most of the damage was to the shell around her front leg. Many tortoises have their upper shell (or carapace) broken across the midline and consequently suffer irreparable spinal trauma, due to the fact that their spinal cord is directly attached to the underside of their carapace.

Experts disagree as to the upper age limits of this species — maybe 40 or 50 years, possibly over 100. However high that particular hill is, this gal is definitely over it. The average size of an adult gopher tortoise is between 9 and 11 inches. This gopher tortoise is 16 inches long and weighs more than 17 pounds. Hatching at 1.5 inches, it can take 10-20 years for this species to reach 3 to 7 inches. They are a slow-growing species with a primitive metabolism.