Quote:
Originally Posted by Pussygalore
I wasn't criticizing the book but having not read it asking where his information came from about hatchlings doing better in groups, maybe it says where he got his research from. The only thing I know or thought I knew about hatchlings in the wild is that they dig themselves out of the nest then hide to absorb any egg yolk and get their strength and also to hide from any predator, they then stay in the vicinity of the nest untill confident to leave, never that they seek out each other but might stay together if they find another.
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He explains in the book that the young tortoises (babies) are safer in the groups. Because they are small and therefore not as experienced, they are easy targets for a predators. If there is a group, there is always a chance that you (as a member of the group) won't be the unlucky one who is caught, whereas them being separated is more dangerous. With bigger tortoises, they are more experienced in survival and therefore not as vulnerable. (obviously the tortoises are not as clever to reason like that, they do it on instinct)