One of the coolest things about working with the National Park Service is the opportunities to work with scientists in the field, and learn things that would be difficult to come across in every day life.  Today I was able to join some interpretive rangers on an outing with a park biologist who works with the desert tortoise population here.  A couple of the tortoises need their radio transmitters replaced and we were invited to tag along to watch the process.  Tortoises are very sensitive animals so biologists follow many rules in safely working with them.  Temperature is a huge factor, and there is a safe range to work within.  Keeping them calm is important as well, an agitated tortoise might urinate, loosing precious water.  Tortoises can survive for a year or more without water by reabsorbing water from their bladders.  Everyone was very quiet and still to reduce stress, and only the trained biologists handled the tortoises, never lifting them more than a couple inches off the ground.  We were all learning much about these fascinating animals, which will help these interpretive rangers share a greater depth of knowledge with visitors.

Using telemetry to locate a tortoise.  Biologists know their general range, but it can take a while to locate one.

Looking inside tortoise scat.

The search continues.

We found Liz.

Biologists wear gloves to avoid transmitting diseases between tortoises.

Carefully weighing the tortoise.

Removing and replacing the transmitter using a dental epoxy to keep it in place.

The tortoises are all named, this is Liz.

Liz likes my shadow, staying in shade prevents water loss.

Using telemetry to find the next tortoise, The Dude.

And here he is.

The Dude, napping in a crevice.

Checking The Dude's skin.

The old transmitter.

The Dude, taking off into the desert.

As slow as they are, they do actually cover ground pretty quickly and if you don't keep watching, you loose sight of them.