Treppie, a 14 year old captive-bred California desert tortoise, grazes outside for the first time this year. Here, he samples various plants, checks to see if the embedded rock in the patio substrate is edible this year (despite its not having been edible for the past 13 years), checks out the camera, and wanders over to a patch of young clover.

This can leave the tortoise in a very vulnerable condition in dry areas, and they should never be alarmed, handled or picked up in the wild.