coldsteelva
Veteran Member
Here's one of the guys that I have in my yard - the pond is next door. Knock on wood, I have missed every one of these while mowing. I see the colors at the last minute and mash the brake.
Caught my first one
- Thread starter Sigarms
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MossRoad
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Nice box turtle! :thumbsup:
A lot of people don't know that you shouldn't put a box turtle in a pond, lake, creek, etc... Put them near water, but don't put them in the water. They'll find it on their own if they need it. They can swim, but not real great at it. They need moisture to eat, drink, and hydrate, and they'll find it and wade in it, or swim across a puddle, pond or creek, but they don't spend all that much time in water.
Quite different from our tortoise. He gets pretty much all of his moisture from his food that I spray with water mist. He has a small pond, but only hops in it every few weeks, soaks up some water through his skin or takes a small drink, then craps in it!
I clean it out, put it back in his enclosure, fill it, and it's good for a couple weeks, or maybe just tomorrow, and he craps in it again. :laughing:
2LaneCruzer
Super Member
Same here. I wonder what's happening to them? Our little Boston used to like to pick them up and carry them around, but haven't seen on in quite a while.
ruffdog
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It is rare I see them here but I did see one a few weeks ago. He was going down the drive towards the road, so I chased him down and put him on the other side of the road. Who said turtles are slow, man, this guy could run!
MossRoad
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It is rare I see them here but I did see one a few weeks ago. He was going down the drive towards the road, so I chased him down and put him on the other side of the road. Who said turtles are slow, man, this guy could run!
Yeah, our little Russian tortoise can move pretty fast when he gets up on plane. :laughing:
OP
Sigarms
Super Member
I have no qualms with trying to help an animal if I can, the key is not to put yourself in danger in doing so. There are some turtles I just leave alone because it's WAY to dangerous to be out in the middle of the road myself depending on the spot.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
Agree. Saw a snapper crossing a road recently, i let it go. Saw a box crossing, but wasnt safe to stop.
2LaneCruzer
Super Member
I thought some of you might find this story interesting, so I'll take the chance and tell it even though some of you might find it long and boring.
My Grandfather was a wheat farmer in North Central Oklahoma. They lived near a creek and a bridge which crossed the road just about 100 yards from their house. When my Dad was about 10 years old (over 100 years ago), he said there was a group of Indians traveling by horseback, and stopped at the house and asked if they could camp down by the creek. Grandpa said "sure". Dad said they left about daylight, and he went down later to see where they had camped, and he noticed the remains of quite a few box turtles, which were picked clean, indicating that they were eaten.
He said they had a couple different campfires, and each one was "enclosed" with a ring of pegs driven into the ground very close to the fire. He surmised, from the looks of things, that they had scoured the area for box turtles and simply dumped them into the fire, and the pegs keeping them from getting out until they were cooked. It seemed bizarre when he told me this 60 or 70 years ago, and it still does sound bizarre, but ultimately very believable. He also experienced an Indian "raid" on his schoolhouse when he was in grade school (about 1915 or 16) when 4 or 5 drunk young bucks on horseback shot up the chimney with their 30-30's.
My Grandfather was a wheat farmer in North Central Oklahoma. They lived near a creek and a bridge which crossed the road just about 100 yards from their house. When my Dad was about 10 years old (over 100 years ago), he said there was a group of Indians traveling by horseback, and stopped at the house and asked if they could camp down by the creek. Grandpa said "sure". Dad said they left about daylight, and he went down later to see where they had camped, and he noticed the remains of quite a few box turtles, which were picked clean, indicating that they were eaten.
He said they had a couple different campfires, and each one was "enclosed" with a ring of pegs driven into the ground very close to the fire. He surmised, from the looks of things, that they had scoured the area for box turtles and simply dumped them into the fire, and the pegs keeping them from getting out until they were cooked. It seemed bizarre when he told me this 60 or 70 years ago, and it still does sound bizarre, but ultimately very believable. He also experienced an Indian "raid" on his schoolhouse when he was in grade school (about 1915 or 16) when 4 or 5 drunk young bucks on horseback shot up the chimney with their 30-30's.
Deerherd
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Last spring I watched a mama turtle lay eggs in my soybeans and in October they hatched. Dozens of theses little buggers crawling around...
MossRoad
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Nice that you could see that. :thumbsup: