i just looked up heartwater ticks and tortoises... i'd never even heard of that before now. interesting. so they had their undies all in a twist thinking of roving bands of feral sulcatas spreading ticks to cattle? and all the while they were allowing developers to essentially pay them off to bury gopher tortoises. jeez...

pic is of a young feral redfooted tortoise singlehandedly destroying the ecosystem of my friend's backyard...