We’ll bet you didn’t know that today (FRIDAY) is Gopher Tortoise Day, so proclaimed by the Gopher Tortoise Council, based right here in North Port.

Taylor Lashlee, a veterinarian intern with the CROW wildlife hospital on Sanibel, shares why this native species is so important.

"So what these guys do is … they dig very extensive burrows and they can be several feet long and a lot of other animals actually benefit from their burrows.

"And so they actually provide shelter for over 350 other species in their environment, anywhere from reptiles such as snakes, amphibians such as the gopher frog and other mammals such as the Florida mouse as well as the rabbits. So a lot of different species and then a lot of bugs and stuff as well."

As herbivores, they aren’t a danger to other species. Although they can live 40 to 60 years in the wild, they do encounter danger themselves, largely due to humans.

"Their habitat is slowly essentially disappearing because of urbanization and we're kind of taking over their habitat. … a lot of times people will move them and they try to get back to their burrows. And doing that, they a lot of times will get hit by a car." Lashlee said.

The gopher tortoise is a protected species, and it’s illegal to move them. That’s unless they are trying to cross a road or are otherwise in danger. In that case, if you can safely move them across the road or other obstacle and point them in the same direction, it’s OK to do so.