I'm pretty sure the Wood Turtle is a protected species in PA so taking it from the wild under any circumstances without proper permits issued from the nongame department of fish and wildlife could be a state or federal violation. Understandably, if you found this turtle away from water and injured it probably was not going to survive the winter and I suspect it did not get there on its own. Who knows where it came from... It disgusts me that so many people think they can just pick up a turtle from the wild, bring it to show and tell, and release it in their back yard. I almost guarentee that's roughly how the turtle ended up where it did. Somebody just assumed that outside was as good a place as any to let the turtle go even if it's 20 miles from where they found it...

If you want to protect yourself, I would contact the state fish and wildlife department. I doubt they would find out you have it but in the unlikely event that they do, it's best that you be the one that goes to them. Besides, the odds are that they know where a good place to release it in the spring will be and may have somebody on staff who can take it in and re-introduce it to the wild in a manner that maximizes its odds of successfully joining a natural population. Sorry to say that I don't know who the right person to contact in your state is.

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