We’re guessing that the neighborhood box turtles are all hunkered down by now for a long winter’s nap. As we crunch the numbers for our annual state and federal reports, we thought the neighborhood would like to read some of our results. Dawn has compiled some interesting data points for us. We’ll share some of these in upcoming weekly posts.
He’s back!
Some of you may recall ABJ, who we found in August, 2015. He was a big male with what appeared to be a bigger problem –
His left leg was so swollen that he was unable to withdraw it into his shell. That problem, in turn, prevented him from shutting his shell to protect his head and front limbs. The swelling and absence of at least two toes indicated a serious infection. It wasn’t a promising situation. It was hard to imagine that he’d survive the winter if he were very ill and incapable of shielding his head and forelegs from predators while he brumated.
We’re now pleased to report that he turned up last night, and his leg is looking much better! He has a little weight loss. That may actually be due to the reduced swelling. The healing abilities of these little guys is remarkable. He was only about 90 feet from where he was found in 2015. He was weighed, measured, and sent back on his way. Good luck, ABJ!
Not much turtle goodness at all in the past couple of months. This guy –
Popped up on September 11, in the morning after two waves of thundershowers passed through in the preceding evening. Indeed, we haven’t found a live turtle since July although we had a report of one. We did encounter one dead one that was too crushed to identify.
We suspect there may be several reasons for the slow-down. The turtles may be traveling less if their focus has shifted from reproduction to building fat stores for winter. The drought may have forced them to remain within the refuge of creek bottoms, where water is easily found, instead of moving to higher ground where they might be seen on roads. They’re all questions that we want to explore in coming years. Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy pondering over the answers while we move these guys off the road.
You read that correctly! Kathryn at Chattahoochee Nature Center’s wildlife department emailed us while we were in Maine last week. Kathryn had brought ABL indoors to go into in a feeding tub, whereupon ABL plopped out an egg! An EGG! We’re going to be re-evaluating those pics to see what we missed since ABL looked initially like a male.
In other news, ABL’s maternity seems to be functioning but her front leg does not. Between an amputated rear leg and an impaired front one, ABL really isn’t ready for the wilds. This has prompted CNC to get permission from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to allow ABL to stay indefinitely at Chattahoochee Nature Center. As an “exhibit turtle,” she will educate thousands of schoolchildren and other visitors about wildlife in the Chattahoochee watershed. So, if you’re visiting CNC soon, keep our ABL in mind!
Looks as if a raccoon left some pretty sharp tracks.
All numbers are tentative as we plug data into the spreadsheet and look for recaps in the photos. Not all turtles have been marked since some were seen by “turtle spotters” when I couldn’t stop in to measure and mark them.
Remember – a major part of this process is a “census”, or a catalog of turtles and the points that they are seen. If you happen to spot one and wish to document it, then please make a note of the date, time, and location that you found the turtle. Many smartphones have internal GPS apps that will let you capture the location. Next, take two photos. One should be straight over the top (“carapace”) and one over the bottom (“plastron”). Text or email the pics and information to me. Finally, send the turtle on its way. The terms of my permit don’t allow me to encourage folks to hold turtles for me. Please let me know if you can keep an eye on one until I can drive over to measure and mark it. Otherwise, the pics will be catalogued in an album for comparison to other neighborhood turtles. Thanks!
Updated to correct the swapped captions. Thanks to Melanie Furr for pointing it out!
…brings a lot of turtles! Box turtles kick it up shortly after a rain. And after a couple of weeks without rain, the boxies really want to move. Whether it’s to find a mate or a nest site, they will begin crossing roads with a purpose. Tuesday afternoon was no exception.
The radar began to look promising for rain by mid-afternoon Tuesday. Sure enough, turtle patrollers Bob and Marti texted me about the first road crosser of the day!
I arrived home to pick up the mail, where I found ABV headed to the woods behind the mailboxes…
…we found another one making its way up a muddy bank. She had healed from such extensive shell damage that she couldn’t be marked. Back to the house to log it in! But wait!
The truck had hardly dropped into gear than THIS GUY walks out into the road! Meanwhile, patroller Greg moved this one from the road near his house.
The day wasn’t done, though. Rick & Jan called to report spotting yet another female in their driveway at almost 9 p.m.! What happened? We suspect it was a combination of rain after an extended dry spell and the peak of the turtles’ annual nesting drive.
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The southern Appalachians have had a drought of rain and box turtles this spring. We have found several by now each spring for the past three years. This year, only two. One is the female we’ve marked as “ABM”.
…only a foot away. This time she was hunkered down in a “form,” or temporary shelter. My guess was it was to get out of the direct sunlight without expending the energy to walk deeper in the woods. Two visits in one day were a nice surprise.
Even more surprising was to find her again on Thursday, almost 100 yards away.
This time, she was soaking in the creek. It’s hard to imagine a three-legged turtle going that far that fast unless she was motivated. A three-day time frame was enough to call for at least a weigh-in. Sure enough, she had lost three grams. That’s roughly the equivalent of a 180-lb person losing just over a pound. Dehydration? Good guess. She clearly enjoyed the soak. We found ABM here again the next day. WOW! Still soaking. Let’s hope that we get some rain, for our sakes and ABM, too.
A walk Saturday flushed out this Southern Two-lined Salamander.
This is the cousin to the Blue Ridge Two-lined Salamander that we discussed a few weeks ago. If you need a better frame of reference for what a challenge it is to see these on the forest floor…
To learn more, visit their webpage at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.
Prowling Zion Hill Road after the rain last Tuesday were twig-sized Blue Ridge Two-Lined Salamanders (Eurycea wilderae).
Most folks wouldn’t describe amphibians as “cute”, yet these guys seem to fill the bill! These are differentiated from the Southern Two-Lined Salamander, whose range abuts the Blue Ridge in Gilmer, by looking at how the “two-lines” are broken on the tails of wilderae.
Thanks to the folks at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory for checking the identification!
Mountaintown Naturalist 