Turtles and Tortoises

Turtles and tortoises comprise the order Testudines. Unique among the vertebrates, these reptiles are covered by a bony shell that is fused with the spine. Six species are native to Arizona, only two may be seen around Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well.

 

Sonoran mud turtle

Sonoran Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense)

The mud turtle lives in rocky streams, creeks, and rivers ranging from central to southeastern Arizona into Sonora. They are mostly active during the day in the spring and fall and at night during the hot summer months. They forage on the bottom of bodies of water feeding on insects, snails, fish, frogs, and plants. They are related to musk turtles and can emit an unpleasant odor when disturbed.

Although these turtles are found in both Beaver Creek and Montezuma Well, those found in Montezuma Well may be genetically different from other Sonoran mud turtles because they are isolated from other populations in the Well.

In the late 60s or early 70s, red-eared sliders, a turtle native to the southeastern US, were introduced to Montezuma Well, threatening the Well's ecosystem and mud turtles. Red-eared sliders compete with mud turtles for basking spots, food, and other resources and caused a decline in mud turtle numbers in the Well. From 2007 to 2011, a removal program captured and removed all red-eared sliders from Montezuma Well and donated them to the Phoenix Herpetological Society, which provided a permanent home for them in captivity. Red-eared sliders still threaten other ecosystems in other parts of Arizona.

 

Desert tortoise

NPS Photo / Robb Hannawacker

Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai)

Although they are mostly found farther south, desert tortoises are occasionally seen in the Verde Valley. This tortoise inhabits bajadas and rocky hillsides above flatter areas. The desert tortoise shelters from the extreme heat of the summer and the cold of winter in burrows it excavates below rocks, boulders, or vegetation. They are most active in the spring and summer when their food sources, grass, succulents, and other low-growing plants are most plentiful.

If you are lucky enough to see one of these tortoises in the wild, please give them plenty of space and do not handle them. Water is usually scarce in the desert, so during the dry season or times of drought, desert tortoises can reabsorb water from their bladders. If threatened, they will sometimes urinate, which leaves them without an emergency source of water and often leads to the tortoise's death. They are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.