Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, this is going to sound like a repeat post, but it's NOT!
This afternoon DH came home with a boxie he found down the street a ways. It was not the same one my neighbor found, and this one looked suspiciously like the OTHER of the two turtles I lost last September. (See post below.) I compared this girl to my pictures, I'd say an exact match! She even weighs the same! I can't believe she made it through the winter! I'd say this is good news for people who have relocated wild turtles! They CAN establish a new territory and survive!

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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
2.0.0 eastern box turtles
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch rabbit
3.2.0 adult children
1.0.0 husband AND
0.1.0 grandbaby!!

It's great that the lost turtle survived the winter.

Please keep in mind that "establishing new territory" entails more than short-term survival (one winter, e.g.) though, and that research has shown that even turtles that stay (and survive) in a new area for a few years may eventually up and leave.

The odds are still against translocated adult turtles.

I'm just thrilled that by some miracle she was found!

When the translocated turtles leave, do they continue to survive elsewhere?
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
2.1.0 eastern box turtles
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch rabbit
3.2.0 adult children
1.0.0 husband AND
0.1.0 grandbaby!!

That's a good question, to which I don't know the answer.

I think that the main finding was that 'permanent' new territory establishment was elusive. Tracking roaming turtles can be problematic in that in wandering off the designated study lands they end up on private property, and gaining permission to access private property can be a challenge. There are other limiting factors as well...

In that case, do we KNOW that all boxies have a perm. home territory?

(Interesting dicussion! Thanks)
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
2.1.0 eastern box turtles
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch rabbit
3.2.0 adult children
1.0.0 husband AND
0.1.0 grandbaby!!

The majority do. This is why long term studies of various box turtle colonies track the same turtles year after year. In one extreme example, on Long Island, a turtle that was first observed in the early part of the last century was located again many decades later.

You might want to invest in a copy of "North American Box Turtles" by C. Kenneth Dodd, which answers these kinds of questions.

FANTASTIC BOOK!! A "must read" for the true box turtle nerd.

.

good for you 1 out of 2 aint' bad
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

Good ole # 71
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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

I ordered the book from Amazon. Thanks for the tip!

I am thrilled we found one of the escapees. DH and I can't believe it. We say things like, "If you had come home from work earlier...If you had taken more time to change your clothes, etc...you would have missed her!" I hope the other girl is doing as well as this one.

We have been a house of animal miracles lately! The returned turtle, and we found an abandoned wild turkey nest several weeks ago. 5 eggs were broken, and 4 were intact. I put the 4 in my incubater and they started hatching last night! I really didn't expect any of them to survive!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
2.1.0 eastern box turtles
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch rabbit
3.2.0 adult children
1.0.0 husband AND
0.1.0 grandbaby!!