How Do They Make It?

This is the season in my neck of the woods when the box turtles are traveling, across lawns, down ravines, and over highways. Of course, they can cross the yard in about a minute, but they have that shapeshifter gene that makes them look as if they are moving very slowly. They do not run, but they do not slog. Turn your back on them and they will be yards away. 

Please note that in spite of this amazing mobility they cannot make it across the highway when cars are doing more than one mile per hour. If you feel safe, pull over to the side of the road and walk back and pick up the turtle and carry it to the other side where he/she was headed. If you do not feel safe, make sure you do not run over this amazing reptile as you head out into the great beyond. Our weather is warm enough that they can now digest food and that is why they are out in the sunshine and in the rainfall. We have seen three in our neck of the woods already.

Students recently determined that growth can be inhibited in plants when you talk to them in an angry voice. You can feed and water the same as you do another plant which you talked gently to, and the one you snarl at will not grow as much! This leads me to believe that all living things are far more in tune to their world than we realize. Thus I always talk kindly to my resident reptiles, offer them a strawberry or piece of melon or a bit of lettuce. Then I leave them alone. I love these gentle animals and even though they have a very hard-shelled home that is not conducive to cuddling, they also have a tough life. This fellow won a battle with some hard tooth mammal or perhaps a raptor?

Each shell is much like a human fingerprint and can be used to identify a returning or resident box turtle.  But this tooth mark will help me recognize this turtle much easier next time.