Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), a turtle, not a tortoise, yet it lives on land:

According to the Davidson College Herpetology Lab:

The most widespread subspecies is simply known as the eastern box turtle (T. carolina carolina). This turtle ranges along the entire east coast of the United States from Massachusetts to northern Florida, as far west as the Mississippi River, and north to the Great Lakes. Although this subspecies is highly variable in coloration, it is often more brightly colored than the other subspecies and almost always has four claws on the hind feet.

This one appears to be a male (flattened shell, yellow eyes).

Although these turtles can live in a variety of different habitats, they are most abundant and healthy in moist forested areas with plenty of underbrush. Although not aquatic, box turtles will often venture into shallow water at the edge of ponds or streams or in puddles. Box turtles do not travel far, usually living within an area less than 200m in diameter.

Plenty of underbrush in that area, leading down to the creek, I guess he’s comfortable there.

Box turtles are omnivores in the broadest sense of the word. They will eat almost anything, animal or plant, that they can fit in their mouth. Intriguingly, it is thought that young box turtles are primarily carnivorous and that as they grow their diet shifts more and more towards plant material. Favorite foods include almost any insect (although they seem to particularly relish worms and slugs), virtually any fruit or berry, mushrooms, a variety of vegetable matter, and even carrion. Interestingly, box turtles are even able to eat many mushrooms that are toxic to humans.

That’s what he was doing: eating a mushroom.

He’s only about 5 inches across, but could be anywhere from 10 to 100 years old.

Unfortunately, the habits and life history characteristics of box turtles make them particularly susceptible to habitat destruction and exploitation by humans.

So if you find one, let it crawl away.

Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2009.

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