As a follow-up to my previous desert tortoise scene, I looked for an opportunity to draw a female in battle. I learned that while female tortoises rarely exhibit aggression towards their own species, they can be fierce in defending their nests and will even fight Gila monsters who want to eat the eggs. The only venomous lizard native to the United States, the Gila monster must be a foreboding opponent. But so is a reptilian battle tank with the temperament of a mother grizzly!
In researching desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) for a new comics project, I learned that the males engage in fearsome combat for territory and access to females. Each tortoise digs at his opponent with the gular horn at the front of his plastron (lower shell) to flip the other onto his back! For defense, they stand tall on their four legs and become hard to flip. The tortoises can eventually right themselves, although being overturned must be stressful. If they knew that they are a threatened species, would they reconsider their dueling traditions? Inspired by the slow-moving warriors, I crafted this poster.
