Eastern Box Turtle - Day 143 - Daily Haiku

Eastern Box Turtle
I wish there were more of you!
Always a favorite

I've mentioned before that I've always had a thing for turtles, and I mentioned in last night's post that, walking back from the barn along the driveway in the dark, I accidentally stepped on one. I was horrified, until I realized that it was completely unharmed, if a bit annoyed by the encounter. I promptly placed it into higher grass away from the driveway.

I didn't get any photos last night, but I took the photos in this post of another Eastern box turtle, that Marek found on our place a couple of years ago, by the rabbit hutch that currently houses our lovely young black Silver Fox doe, Smoke.

Box turtles, like all turtles are slow growing, long lived, and produce relatively few young each year. They can live up to one hundred years of age in the wild, but in captivity, it is more common for them to live thirty or forty years, as it is difficult to meet all their needs, when relying on artificial lighting and a limited number of readily available foods.

Combined with the frequency of their being hit by cars and machinery, the Eastern box turtles have been so decimated by the pet trade that it is now illegal to capture them throughout most of their natural range.

They are completely protected in Tennessee, where they are honored as the State Reptile, which is an honor also bestowed upon them by North Carolina.

South Carolina is the only state that still allows their capture from the wild for profit, though several states allow their capture for personal use (meaning as pets, not food).

Box turtles are omnivorous, and will eat a wide variety of foods, including snails, slugs, and fly larvae, which makes them okay in my book. ;-)

We have a pond at the edge of our woods, which is where I released the lovely turtle in these photos, and we are hoping to enlarge it and divert the rainwater from our roof to it, so that it will hold water all year. Currently it holds a few inches of water after each rain, but most of the year it is merely damp, and in really dry weather it ceases to be a pond at all.

Our hope is that, after enlarging and improving our pond, we will see the turtles and other water loving species more frequently, as we make the habitat more to their liking. We will also be planting many native herbs and vegetables known to be preferred by turtles, which will hopefully coax them to stick around long term.

I'm always doubly pleased when we see them around, as they are not only favorites of mine, but are an indicator species of a healthy and thriving ecosystem. It is wonderful to know that we have a thriving population of box turtles on our place and in our community.

I'm also hoping to put in a secret garden somewhere on our property, fenced and covered to keep out predators, and to release Toby in there, our little rescue turtle. He is still tiny now, but eventually his carapace will reach five or six inches, and I'd like for him to be able to live outside in a more natural environment, with his own small pond, albeit protected from Lolo, the cats, and other predators.

Turtles do far better in outdoor enclosures, in warm climates, than they do in terrariums. With less attention to their care, and/or less competent care, obviously, their life span will be far shorter.

In our climate, in Middle Tennessee, they hibernate in the winter, and in his outdoor enclosure I'll provide a good sized area by the pond that has everything he needs to hibernate successfully.

Please note that I was a biology major, have worked in animal rescue, and take properly caring for our animals seriously, so I've done quite a lot of study as to his requirements. Once he is old enough, and large enough, we will release him by the main pond to be with the other turtles, and to fulfill his role in nature.

If you are thinking of a turtle as a pet, please think twice, because although they have long been touted as great low-maintenance pets for children, the reality is that they need highly specialized care that few amateurs can successfully give.

And please, please, if you insist on getting any animal as a pet, be sure to purchase it from a reputable breeder, and do not support pet stores that sell wild-caught turtles.

Ask the pet store if the breeders they get their animals from are licensed, and where they are located. And watch for signs to tell if they are telling you the truth or not. Wild turtles, even immature turtles, typically do not adapt well to captivity, with severely compromised health, and shortened life spans as a result.

Please do not support the wild-caught pet trade in any form, as it is highly destructive of wildlife, often destroys their habitats, and directly results in the deaths of literally hundreds of thousands of wild animals every year.

Some of my recent posts:

Hot Days in Summer - Day 142 - Daily Haiku
Missing You, Sprinkles - Day 141 - Daily Haiku
Our Schools Are Meant To - Day 140 - Daily Haiku
Living Gratitude - Day 139 - Daily Haiku
Fireflies Are Twinkling - Day 138 - Daily Haiku
As a Nine Year Old - Day 137 - Daily Haiku, with Ruminations on Bobby Kennedy
Distant Owl Calling - Day 136 - Daily Haiku
Veganism to Save the World? Maybe, but for Some of us, Definitely Not. Rebuttal to @celestialcow
Seen From My Window - Day 135 - Daily Haiku - An Ode to a Red-Tailed Hawk
Grass is Growing Tall - Day 134 - Daily Haiku, and Ruminations on our Thornless Blackberries and Native Raspberries

art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics

art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics

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All words and photos are my own.

The photo of our dog, Lolo, and our late cat, Miod, I took as they were cooperatively begging at the dinner table, despite our longstanding rule of not feeding them from the table. You can see how much that deterred them both.

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