A chance morning encounter.

[Tim Benzedrine]

We had visitors this morning. One stepped out for a cigarette snd returned to inform me that there was a turtle outside. I went to investigate, and it was of course a box turtle, a very colourful male.
Now, when I was a kid, I used to see them all of the time, now seeing them is a rarity. I suspect it is because I spend much less time gadding about afield, but on the other hand, I've heard other people comment that they don't encounter them as often as they used to either.

Anyway, I took some pictures after he got over his shyness and thought you might like to see them.

 

[Bird Man]

Very nice, box turtles are very cool. I've also noticed a decline in box turtles around me as well. I haven't seen one in years and I still get out in the woods quite a bit. I have seen a few spotted turtles still around though.

 

[arrowhd]

Nice find. Decline in population due to water quality?

 

[Ritzman]

Very cool find and pics.
I have been hoping to see one of these in the wild; I never have.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I used to go find a half-dozen at a time when I was a kid. I have an old picture of myself at about 7 or so sitting on a blanket surrounded by the day's catch.. I have since learned that removing them from their territory and releasing them elsewhere is hard on them also. I never returned them to where I found them. I regret this now, but didn't see any harm in it at the time, being a kid with no access to information about them.

Nice find. Decline in population due to water quality?

Well, they are terrestrial, so I'm not sure that water quality would have any more impact upon them than any other land-dwelling creature. I did some googling and found a couple of articles that offer some explanations.

Saving the box turtle

Another offered this, which I believe is getting close to the target...

One of the greatest factors affecting the decline in Eastern Box Turtles is human related changes in the landscape. The conversion of forest to agricultural land along with the expansion of housing developments into areas where suitable habitat once existed has no doubt affected many turtle populations. Additional factors that are potentially damaging to box turtle populations include road mortality and collection by humans.

In these parts, I'm inclined to believe that landscape changes and roads have more to do with it than over-collection.

Here is one more article

I have one other theory. I think some gardeners might have killed them because they eat garden vegetables. I know when I was a kid, I was strongly urged not to release them in the yard because the would get into peoples gardens. I can remember at least one old guy that grumbled about me bringing the things home. I'm just assuming that some people would deal with them severely, people can go koo-koo when it comes to garden pests. However, I've never actually heard of anybody intentionally killing one except for a few very cruel boys.

 

[equuskat]

Box turtles are beautiful animals. I haven't seen one in ages.

Like other previous posters, I have seen fewer box turtles around and I used to be able to catch them regularly as a child.

 

[arachyd]

We have lots of them here. They do need water. In the breeding season you can find a pair of them practically every everywhere you look in the edges of small ponds mating in the water.

 

[Miss Bianca]

Love these pictures! Thank you for sharing these!
Love box tortugas

 

[davidbarber1]

Beautiful pics. I agree with the one article about human related changes in the landscape. Anytime you set an area for agriculture or urban development, you are going to affect a lot more than just turtles. Thank God for Nature Reserves.

David

 

[Dom]

It's great when you walk outside and encounter something unexpected like that. It's sad to hear about the decline but at least they're still around.

 

[kitty_b]

My husband and I saw a box turtle trying to cross a main road at UNC on Thursday afternoon. A truck in the opposing lane almost hit it as it crossed the center line (but swerved), and a nice guy had already stopped on our side and was running back to rescue the little guy.
I can only assume he released him somewhere safer since he took the turtle into his car.
I couldn't help but laugh when the truck avoided the turtle because it stopped mid-walk and briefly tucked it's head, in like something out of a cartoon, before continuing its journey.

 

[Onagro]

Nice box turtle! I love seeing these in the warmer months. Here in Tennessee, they are our state reptile and yet there is almost no protection for them. There are idiots who swerve out of their way to hit them when crossing the the road and brag about it later. In high school, I got sent to a guidance conselor for punching out a guy who got all in my face about how cool it was to run them over with his truck. Of course, he got away scott-free:wall:

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I hate people that do things like that. I sat in front of a local shop once and watched a carload of thugs deliberately speed up to try to hit a squirrel crossing the road. I could hear them cackling with glee as the critter scrambled to get out of the way.

I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I myself may have been responsible for the demise of some of the turtles I caught when I was a kid. It used to be a practice for people to write their names and dates on the turtle's shells using fingernail polish as an alternative to carving their names with a knife. I used nail polish on them now and then too. It wasn't until years later in adulthood that I found out that it was bad for them.
Apparently, people still do that. A couple of summers ago, my nephew caught one that had "Chuck + Sara" (I can't remember the actual names) written in bright-red something.

 

[MizM]

What a face! He's adorable! Don't be too embarrassed by your behavior as a child, you had no idea at the time. If you did things like that NOW, that's a different story!!

No surprise about them disappearing.... what ISN'T? Mankind doesn't give a whit about the planet, or the precious creatures that dwell on it. Only now, when the climate change is affecting HUMANS, do they care to do something about it!

 

[pavel]

Excellant face shot.

I too get very peeved when I see jackasses swerve to hit an animal. I've seen cruched turtles on the side of the road -- the only way for that to happen is some idiot running over it on purpose.

 

[GartenSpinnen]

I also have noticed a steep decline in these guys. I used to find them as a kid, but now i never see them anymore. I believe one reason is that they are so slow crossing the roads and there is actually people that think its funny to try and hit them. Its pretty sad , they are really cool and i wish there was more around. Around these parts they are protected now.

I did see one once when i was installing cable.... this kid had one sitting in an aquatic setup, i wanted to cry. Tried to educate these people, but they were not about to listen to me.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Excellant face shot.

Thanks! I was rather pleased with it, myself. I tried to use it for my desktop wallpaper, but it distorts it and I'm not sure how to correct it.