turtle time

Over the past few years, I have been taking pictures of the Eastern Box Turtles we have found in our yard. Last week, I found the first pair of the season. Unfortunately, one got away before I could take her picture, but I did get some pictures of the male.

The turtles were on the east side of the fenced garden.

carapace of the box turtle

The same turtle was found May 1, 2010, in the flowerbed under the Southern Red Oak in the back yard.

Eastern Box Turtles

And in September 8, 2009, east of the veggie garden.

Eastern box turtle

Box turtles can live up to 100 years in the wild, with shorter life spans in captivity due to the fact they have specific requirements which are hard to meet. Box turtles have a home range of less than 800 feet in diameter. If you find one in your yard, you may meet him or her again in the years to come. Males do sometimes range wider in search of mates. Several turtles can share the same area as they don’t mind living near other box turtles.

I have taken pictures of more than ten different box turtles in our yard since 2005. I’ve only seen a couple of them more than once. I’m hoping to find more repeats as time goes by.

~~Rhonda

2 Comments

  1. Vickie
    Posted May 1, 2012 at 11:10 pm | Permalink

    Beautiful turtles. I like turtles but the kind that live around here are protected and you can’t even touch them. I want one to live in my backyard!

  2. Posted May 1, 2012 at 11:50 pm | Permalink

    Thank you, Vickie. It’s always exciting to find a turtle and get a picture to compare to the others. When we get a match, it’s fun! Because they probably will inhabit our yard for their entire lives, I want to know more about them. I’ve learned a lot by reading info online. We have 3 1/2 acres, with about 1 acre in woods. There’s a little underground spring that seeps up near the woods and that maintains a moist place that the turtles surely are drawn to. We don’t use pesticides in the garden and that has to help their habitat, as well. It really is fun to have them living in our garden.

    ~~Rhonda

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