Turtle Adventure!

[miss moxie]

So I saw my cat glancing out the back window, doing that whole 'I see something moving that I want to pounce/kill/maim' ritual. I went to see what he was looking at and saw a turtle crawling down our hill towards our house. It was a pretty big turtle so I went outside and snatched him or her up. Our house is right by a road and my neighbor has a pond in his back yard so I intended to take them up there and away from the road.

I'm pretty sure this is an Eastern Box Turtle, and a fairly old one at that. I try not to interfere with nature too much but I've seen too many crushed turtles on the roads to feel good about leaving them be. This little guy or gal was pretty hungry too. I offered it a cucumber slice and it ate right out of my hand. After it ate two whole cucumber slices it seemed to lose interest in food so I walked them up to my neighbor's pond and released them.

So what do you guys think? Eastern Box Turtle?

 

[CWilson1351]

Yeah looks like Eastern Box to me also. Good job keeping it from the road I see a few every spring & summer and irritate other drivers by stopping traffic for them.

 

[miss moxie]

Yeah looks like Eastern Box to me also. Good job keeping it from the road I see a few every spring & summer and irritate other drivers by stopping traffic for them.

I do the same exact thing! We have quite a few ponds/streams where I live so they are pretty common. I've even stopped to help a decent sized snapper cross the road. S/he was very unhappy but I was pleased when I got them off the road without losing a fingertip.

 

[Venom1080]

Very cool. Turtles are the only reptile Id care to keep.

 

[miss moxie]

Very cool. Turtles are the only reptile Id care to keep.

I never really understood it before, but after interacting with this one and watching the way it ate was an absolute delight. I could see having a pet turtle now.

 

[Venom1080]

I never really understood it before, but after interacting with this one and watching the way it ate was an absolute delight. I could see having a pet turtle now.

I like the aquatic ones the most. Very personable things

 

[basin79]

A lotto win will see me own an alligator snapper.

 

[miss moxie]

A lotto win will see me own an alligator snapper.

Phew, after rescuing a medium sized snapper from the middle of the road, I can't imagine having one as a pet. Well...maybe I can see some appeal to it-- their feisty nature is admirable when it's not aimed at your fingers.

 

[schmiggle]

I agree on the ID, a lovely find. By the way, what you're doing by moving a slow animal off the road is really just allowing nature to take its course without human interference--without us, there wouldn't be a road, and the animal would be able to walk everywhere with approximately equal safety. There are many amphibians that are endangered because of road crossings they have to make during migrations, for example california tiger salamanders and european common toads, and at least the former have seen significant population increases after underpasses to roads were added so they could move through safely.

 

[miss moxie]

I agree on the ID, a lovely find. By the way, what you're doing by moving a slow animal off the road is really just allowing nature to take its course without human interference--without us, there wouldn't be a road, and the animal would be able to walk everywhere with approximately equal safety. There are many amphibians that are endangered because of road crossings they have to make during migrations, for example california tiger salamanders and european common toads, and at least the former have seen significant population increases after underpasses to roads were added so they could move through safely.

That's true. I never thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. We humans are great at steam rolling mother nature.

 

[Galapoheros]

My grandfather would take me out to the country around 1970 to grab box turtles off the dirt roads, he had a lot of land out there, that was really fun to me. Then for many years I didn't see any in that area, I always attributed it to fire ants. But I'm seeing them in that area again, the three toed and ornate. They would each have their personality, some would always try to bite and others never would try to bite, pretty savvy for a reptile imo.

 

[miss moxie]

My grandfather would take me out to the country around 1970 to grab box turtles off the dirt roads, he had a lot of land out there, that was really fun to me. Then for many years I didn't see any in that area, I always attributed it to fire ants. But I'm seeing them in that area again, the three toed and ornate. They would each have their personality, some would always try to bite and others never would try to bite, pretty savvy for a reptile imo.

The one I had seemed very intelligent, if not confused why it couldn't walk or swim anymore. Didn't try to bite me at all, accepted food after just a few seconds, and didn't draw back into their shell when I gently touched the top of their head. Definitely very fun to interact with!

 

[spotropaicsav]

The one I had seemed very intelligent, if not confused why it couldn't walk or swim anymore. Didn't try to bite me at all, accepted food after just a few seconds, and didn't draw back into their shell when I gently touched the top of their head. Definitely very fun to interact with!

Cute pics of your adventure! I'm a tortoise lover, it's one of my dream future pets, our neighbors have a m/f pair that get loose every so often, and then I get to enjoy feeding them snacks until the owners come to get them

 

[miss moxie]

Cute pics of your adventure! I'm a tortoise lover, it's one of my dream future pets, our neighbors have a m/f pair that get loose every so often, and then I get to enjoy feeding them snacks until the owners come to get them

A friend of mine who is super into herps has this tortoise, I'm not sure of the species but it is so big! Really neat to watch it walk around.

 

[spotropaicsav]

A friend of mine who is super into herps has this tortoise, I'm not sure of the species but it is so big! Really neat to watch it walk around.

Another family in the neighborhood has a very long lived specimen, bigger than their lawnmower and lives in the garage, too big for me though

 

[miss moxie]

Another family in the neighborhood has a very long lived specimen, bigger than their lawnmower and lives in the garage, too big for me though

Too big?! No way, that just means you can let toddlers ride on their back for $5 a pop!

Disclaimer: I am not being serious, please don't put children on tortoises. Jury is still out on letting tortoises ride on children's backs though.

 

[spotropaicsav]

Too big?! No way, that just means you can let toddlers ride on their back for $5 a pop!

Disclaimer: I am not being serious, please don't put children on tortoises. Jury is still out on letting tortoises ride on children's backs though.

Rideshare to work? Think of the money saved on gas....

 

[CWilson1351]

I do the same exact thing! We have quite a few ponds/streams where I live so they are pretty common. I've even stopped to help a decent sized snapper cross the road. S/he was very unhappy but I was pleased when I got them off the road without losing a fingertip.

I did the same for a good sized snapping turtle while working. It took me an extra 45min because she didn't want my help and I couldn't pick her up to move her. She was amazing though, pretty good sized too

 

[spotropaicsav]

I did the same for a good sized snapping turtle while working. It took me an extra 45min because she didn't want my help and I couldn't pick her up to move her. She was amazing though, pretty good sized too
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Wow she is a big one, I always wonder at the age of ones like this

 

[miss moxie]

Wow she is a big one, I always wonder at the age of ones like this

Same! I was reading about Eastern Box Turtles today and read they can live over 50 years! Who knows how old the turtle I found was, right? A turtle making it to 30, 40, 50 years in nature getting crushed by a man-made machine in an instant is just all wrong to me. I mean it's tragic when any animal is killed by a car, don't get me wrong.