New Digs for Dum Dum

A Mojave Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is and has been a Del Mar resident for 60 years. His ancestors’ descendants lived around the southwest, west of the Colorado, for millions of years. This tortoise is a turtle; it belongs to the land-dwelling family of Testudinidae, whereas other families of turtles (who aren’t tortoises), terrapins and sea turtles, live most of their lives in the water.

Our local, Dum Dum aka DD, is 65 with 15 to 35 more years to go. He is a lucky guy. His first home was with Tensia Trejo who found him wandering her neighborhood as a young tortoise. He recently moved in with his new care taker Carol Kerridge. He has his very own ADU and a lovely garden to wander and explore. Carol reports that in addition to his daily meal of romaine lettuce, broccoli and kale, he has preferences and routines. He comes to his door when he wants out and, if placed in what he considers an undesirable spot, he hisses. He is partial to wind (the dryer vent is a favorite), and musical wind chimes. He likes to dig and is ever on the look out for an escape route with the exuberance of a full blown 2 year old boy: independent, willful, fearless. He did manage to vanish, causing a stir in the neighborhood. He avoided detection for over a week by hiding in a secret spot behind a rock covered with bushes. He may be sporting a “find my” tortoise air tag soon.

Though DD has some territory in which to roam most tortoise kin have seen their wild living space vastly reduced due to land development. That and the fact that they are threatened by human interaction—most notably off-roading vehicles who run them over— threaten their existence. As their population dwindles, the tortoises don’t reproduce until they are between 15 and 20 years old. Females lay eggs only once or twice in the spring and summer and a mere 2% of their hatchlings live to adulthood. These tortoises, who have existed for millions of years, were jumped from the threatened to the endangered species list in 2024. It is time to take note and take care of tortoises wherever they live to help insure survival.