Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've seen numerous Texas tortoises in South Texas but no box turtles. Has anyone ever come across an ornate down there. I'm not interested in localities, just whether there are still viable populations.

lentic,

The decline of the Ornate Box Turtle in south Texas seems to be one of the great unheralded wildlife events of the twentieth century. Forty years ago they were extremely abundant to the point where it would have been unusual to take a drive on the back roads of southern Bexar and Atascosa counties without encountering eight or ten; they were slightly more common than the Texas Tortoise in the same habitat.

Although I have lived in the midst of what would have been excellent habitat for the past thirty years, I have not seen any Ornate Boxes during that time and only a handful of Texas Tortoises (far fewer than several decades ago). Conventional wisdom suggests the Imported Fire Ant (whose populations exploded at about the same time that the turtles became scarse) as the culprit.

I don't think "collectors" can be blamed for the decline since the long-"protected" Texas Tortoise has suffered a similar -- though less dramatic -- fate. And while road kills were common sights, there are huge tracts of south Texas that are not near any roadways. Perhaps whatever has affected the Texas Horned Lizard is also responsible for the T. ornata decline; at least some people are studying the lizard's disappearance, but no one seems to notice that the turtles are gone.

Quien sabe?

Tom Lott

I have seen 2. One near Guadalupe River State Park (female) about 5 yrs ago and the other in Medina county (male) last year (pictured).
Lance G

I have seen two and "rescued" one from a local pet store. One male from Aransas co., one female from Goliad co., and a female from unknown origin rescued from the local pet store. Also, the museum here in Corpus has 3 or 4 on display. There seem to be some where cattle and water is abundant. I think the berries and dung beetles play a real part in their being able to survive, as I've noticed no cattle, no turles. These have been seen in the last year. None seen this year yet.
Todd

Thank you for your informative replies. In addition to the ususual
DDT (see Vermersch Lizards and Turtles of South Central Texas)/fireants explanations, I think the 150 year switch from grassland to brush country has also had a gradual but sizeable impact on T. ornata. As for central Texas, I don't think ornates were ever especially abundant there considering Strecker's early twentieth century accounts. I've seen as many as 8 Texas tortoises
in an afternoon in Atascosa but no one seems to remember seeing a box turtle