I posted on June28th of a mortally injured female EBT I found on a major highway in central NJ. We removed 5 eggs, damaging one in the process. Of the four, one was infertile, one had an embryo begin to pip and then die (with a huge yolk sac), and the other two hatched and are eating very well.
Behind my work is an "island" of woods in a very urbanized part of NJ. In May of 2003 I found my first box turtles there, ironically a pair of them mating. The male was very old and his plastron worn smooth. I have since found one or two per year and photographed them. Today my close friend was walking in these woods, I was away at another job. When I came back he said "Did you see what I found". I went to see the top shell and front part of the plastron of a boxie he found near an intermittant stream in the woods back behind my office. I thought I recognized the shell, and checked photos stored on my computer. Sure enough, it was the old male from 2003. Besides the distinctive pattern, there is some old shell damage and a very distinictive notch in the front of the shell making identity unmistakeable. I have found, including this male, one juvenile, one other shell, and eight living adult boxies thus far in this small area. Although ashame he was no longer alive, it was neat getting my first "recapture" and nice to know the final resting place of this old guy 4.5 years later.
