Nature Note: the Eastern Box Turtle
By Joe Settles

Is there anything more lovable than the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina)? If these guys (and gals) could talk, many of them could tell quite a story. Several of these creatures live to a ripe old age, and there has even been one turtle captured in New York that lived to be over 100 years old.

Eastern box turtles achieve sexual maturity around the age of 10. Sexual activity has been documented in box turtles older than 50 years of age. And imagine – they don’t even have Viagra! You can normally count the rings on a box turtle’s shell to determine age until they are about 20 years old. After that, the carapace normally gets worn smooth and it makes aging difficult.

The female lays 6 – 8 eggs in loose soil, and the eggs hatch in 70 – 90 days. When the young hatch, they are very vulnerable to predators. Their shell hasn’t hardened, and they are not very quick; so they can be easy prey for raccoons and skunks.

To me, the biggest enemies of box turtles are cars. I have actually seen people swerve to hit them. Please take the time to move these critters to the side of the road if you have a safe opportunity. The life you save may be 60 or 70 years older than yours!

Joe Settles is a biologist with Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives