On the 15th of March we found a Greek tortoise on Mount Ithome in Mavromati at a temple site dedicated to the goddess Artemis.
The back part of the shell looked like a warrior's helmet, it's skin had round scales, and his claws looked very sharp and grubby. His shell was a blackish brown color, and some of the tile on his shell had tan markings on it.
The common name for the Greek Tortoise is The Spur Thigh Tortoise.
A Geek Tortoise can be 6 to 7 inches long, and a baby can be1 ½ to 2 inches long (which is about the size of a double A battery). It is estimated that the Greek
Tortoise can live for more than 50 years.
Greek tortoises make "scrapes" beneath spiny and sharp oak shrubs to sleep in over night. Different turtles use the scrapes at different times. There are turtle trails that can clearly be seen leading to these scrapes.
They don't like wet areas, and are mostly seen in the summer when it's hot out.
The Greek tortoises are herbivores. They eat dandelions, vetches, mallows and plants in the legume family.
Greek tortoise eggs are usually laid from May to June when the first hatchlings emerge. The eggs are spherical and are usually 6-8 eggs per clutch. You can tell if a turtle is young or old by the color of its shell. If it's lighter it's younger, and if it's darker it's older.
In November the hatchlings and the adults are ready to hibernate usually digging under rocks or the same shrubs that they use for overnight scrapes.
The difference between the male and female is that the bottom of the males shell is concave, and the females tail is much shorter than the males.
Because of fires, farming and development in Greece, especially in southern Peloponnese these turtles are becoming extinct.