A Florida law enforcement officer stopped a slow-moving ‘Florida native’ for disrupting traffic after it refused to take orders from him.
The gopher tortoise was on Nocatee Parkway, north of St. Augustine, when it was spotted by St. Johns County Sheriff’s Deputy L. Fontenot while on routine patrol.
The suspect, a “Gopherus Genus,” ignored the officer and continued to stroll, so Fontenot took the suspect into custody. The Sheriff’s Office put out a statement saying that the officer had a “heartfelt conversation regarding this risky behavior” with the suspect, who was then “released on his own recognizance.”
Fontenot praised the tortoise’s behavior, noting it was very cooperative. He let the tortoise go with a warning, but not before taking a selfie with it.
Gopher tortoises are the only tortoises existing east of the Mississippi River and are listed as threatened in Florida. They are protected under state law, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
These tortoises dig deep burrows for shelter, which can be up to 15 feet long, and they live about 60 years in the wild. They prefer high and dry places to live, similar to humans, which contributes to their road mortality.
The kindness of our law enforcement officers never ceases to amaze us.
