OUT!! #32: Eastern Box Turtle

While on a program the other day, I had the great fortune to have one of the participants spot a female Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) digging near the side of the trail. By the looks of it, she'd either just finished the job, just started, or was making a false nest (designed to throw off predators from where the real nest might be). Seeing one of these creatures is a wonderful sight to behold as they are woefully endangered largely by human influence.

The Eastern Box Turtle is one of six subspecies spread across the eastern and south central United States and is the state reptile (at least the nominate species is) of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri. A pretty high distinction for a very cool reptile. They are called box turtles because of their ability to shut their shells completely to prevent predators from securing a limb or their heads in order to incapacitate them. Their domed shells are also intricately patterned meaning that individual box turtles can be identified by the unique patterns on the carapace of the shell. Adding to the individuality are the scales on the back of the shell itself which have rings allowing one to be able to determine the age of the turtle as well. This is a pretty good tool, but it might be harder than it looks as these turtles can live to be 50 to 75 years old.

While they can live to such ages, they are vulnerable to human-related injury. They are often hit by cars, crushed by agricultural equipment, or taken in for the pet trade. As a result they are regarded by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) as a vulnerable species.

Despite this, they are still a fairly common sight in the East being seen most often in fields, open woods, and yards bordering wild areas. Despite being portrayed in many internet videos as aggressive maulers of strawberries, they are actually omnivores that eat a wide variety of plant and animal matter. There is even a current theory that suggests that the young are more likely to be carnivores when they first start out before gradually moving on to eat the often slower and easier to catch plants and fungi. Why then don't they just start off with plants you may wonder? My thoughts are that it's a theory supported mainly by anecdotal evidence and might instead be an interesting hypothesis instead of a working theory.

Having never seen a box turtle in the wild before, I would have spent more time looking and observing, but with a program to burn and time running out, I had to move on. If on my own time however, I see one, I'll be sure to check it out and let you know about it too.