Actually, I haven't ever found many raided nests in NJ. I find a ton in NC. There were far less raccoons where I herped in the pines. There were tons of fox and opposum, but not many raccoons. Now that I think of it, I used to see a fair amount of crow raiding water turtle nests. They'd sit and watch the turtle lay, then immediately swoop down to dig up and eat the eggs when the turtle finished. I see a fair amount of box turtles nesting at a park in NC. If I go on the right night, I'll see five or six laying. The next day, ALL will be raided! I can see tons of raccoon footprints all around the park. I've never seen a nest being laid that hasn't been raided either the next day or whenever I make it back to the park. The funny thing is, my dog still sniffs out a fair amount of hatchlings, and I see turtles of all sizes. I don't know where the nest are successful, but they obviously are.

I have to confess, I miss the NJ box turtles. They were much more attractive overall than most that I see now. They seem to get more colorful as I head eastward, but many where I live now are almost hypermelanistic. One interesting phenotype, I've never found a box turtle in Western NC that didn't have a black, or mostly black plastron. I honestly can't remember the frequency of this in NJ. When you go herping, could you check for me? I don't know how you feel about picking the turtles up. Obviously, you wouldn't pick up a nesting female, but some people think it's unethical to pick up any turtle that doesn't need to be moved from the road. Don't worry about it if you don't feel comfortable.

I will get a better picture of this guy if I'm ever home, but this is my lone male Eastern found in a gutter in the Bronx, NY.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Some ancient wild box turtles - dragoncjo, Wed Jun 21 18:17:26 2006
• RE: Some ancient wild box turtles - PHRatz, Wed Jun 21 19:38:25 2006
• south jersey box turtles... - FrankR, Wed Jun 21 19:39:25 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - kensopher, Wed Jun 21 20:23:14 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - dragoncjo, Wed Jun 21 21:37:55 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - dragoncjo, Wed Jun 21 21:46:13 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - kensopher, Thu Jun 22 06:21:11 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - dragoncjo, Thu Jun 22 09:00:55 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - boxielover, Thu Jun 22 23:54:14 2006
• she's AWESOME n/p - FrankR, Sun Jun 25 17:58:41 2006
• RE: south jersey box turtles... - kensopher, Fri Jun 23 06:06:00 2006