Nature smart By Stan Tekiela

Eastern Box Turtle taken in southern MN under controlled conditions

Imagine that your body is ten times the size of your limbs. Each of your four legs are short, thick, round and tipped with long narrow claws. Your body is also your home that you carry around with you everywhere you go. In fact, your spine is fused to the hard domed-shaped shell structure that you call home. You can withdraw your legs and neck back into the shell but that is all, even though some people believe you can crawl out of your shell.

You live on the forest floor and with your short legs it means you move slowly and with some difficulty as you navigate all the obstacles such as rocks and fallen tree branches. However, you are different from the other critters who look like you. All the other critters that look like you live in the water, and swim around effortlessly, but you are definitely a slow, land-based critter.

I don’t think you had any trouble deducing from these clues that the critter is a turtle, however, did you figure out I was referring to the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)? In many areas, the box turtle is the only land based or terrestrial turtle species. It is not a species of tortoise which is most likely the best-known land-based turtle-like species. If you are a little confused right now, let me just say that there are big differences between turtles and tortoises. I want to look at the land-based turtle, the Eastern Box Turtle.

The box turtle has a high domed upper shell called the carapace. It is often highly ornamented with a different pattern, often in a dull yellow color. The bottom shell, called the plastron, is hinged at the front and back portions. This hinged area allows the turtle to withdraw into the shell and close up tight like a box, hence the common name of these animals. This is different from the aquatic turtles that can withdraw their legs and neck but aren’t able to close up their shell.

The skin on the legs, neck and head is brown or black with yellow, orange, red and sometimes white spots, and streaks. Males have bright red eyes and females have brown eyes. A turtle’s shell is made of bone which is covered by a vascularized tissue (living) which is then covered by a thin layer of keratin, which is similar to our fingernails. These three layers make up the shell of the turtle. As the turtle grows it sheds the outer layer, similar to how we shed our own skin, to make room for the larger layers below.

So, you might be wondering why I would be writing about an Eastern Box Turtle in the middle of winter. The other day I was asked about how these turtles survive winter. And this is where things get very interesting. Each fall the Eastern Box Turtle will burrow as deep as they can into the ground under the leaves and soils on the forest floor. At this point they enter a state of inactivity that is like hibernation but technically it is not hibernation. When reptiles, like turtles, cool down for winter it is called brumation or torpor. It allows the turtle to survive without food or drink for long periods of time. The word brumation usually refers to reptiles and describes their winter dormancy.

To read more of nature smart subscribe today.