Box Turtles

[FishnDave]

Do we have turtle afficianados here?  Besides @snagged in outlet 3 and his cooters?

I met a couple box turtles yesterday while micro-flyfishing a creek near St Louis.  One was swimming across the creek when I saw him.  I waded down and set him up on top of the steep bank, since I didn't think he could make it up there on his own.  He was a handsome fella!  Red head, yellow spotted front legs, colorful shell.

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Maybe 50' upstream, I met another box turtle sitting on the shore.  I walked over for a picture, but otherwise left it (her?) alone.  She didn't try to run away.

Are they both Three-toed Box Turtles?  I'm pretty sure the second one is... but wondered about the first one.

[Johnsfolly]

@FishnDave I would consider both of those as three-toed box turtles. The ornate box turtle which is also in your area tend to have darker scutes than that first turtle with less and more defined yellow markings. Also they are opposite in terms of having orange/red scales on the legs and a green/yellow head.

[FishnDave]

45 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

@FishnDave I would consider both of those as three-toed box turtles. The ornate box turtle which is also in your area tend to have darker scutes than that first turtle with less and more defined yellow markings. Also they are opposite in terms of having orange/red scales on the legs and a green/yellow head.

Awesome!  I read that only (some?) males will have the red heads.  Will only males have the decorated shells, too?

[Quillback]

Used to have one that raided my garden.  It liked to eat cantalope.  Haven't seen it in a few years.  It was not an ornate.  Pretty common to see them crossing roads in the spring.  

[Ham]

I thought one sec had red eyes and the opposite sex did not. 

[FishnDave]

11 minutes ago, Ham said:

I thought one sec had red eyes and the opposite sex did not. 

Yes, that appears to be true.  Males have red eyes, females have brown eyes.  Males have more decorated shells.  The back of the carapace on males flares out... that part of the female's shell usually does not flare out.  So... looks like I met a fella and a lady.  I bet they knew each other.  

They spend more time in/near water than I would have guessed, but explains why I've found their shells when wade-fishing. I was also surprised to learn they eat a fair bit of meat.... snails, slugs, bugs, worms, fish, crayfish, frogs....   Aggressive hunters they must be!  They can probably spend hours stalking a slug!  Prior to the feast, they probably have a very intense stare-down!  Nightmare fodder, for sure! 😜

[BilletHead]

39 minutes ago, FishnDave said:

Yes, that appears to be true.  Males have red eyes, females have brown eyes.  Males have more decorated shells.  The back of the carapace on males flares out... that part of the female's shell usually does not flare out.  So... looks like I met a fella and a lady.  I bet they knew each other.  

They spend more time in/near water than I would have guessed, but explains why I've found their shells when wade-fishing. I was also surprised to learn they eat a fair bit of meat.... snails, slugs, bugs, worms, fish, crayfish, frogs....   Aggressive hunters they must be!  They can probably spend hours stalking a slug!  Prior to the feast, they probably have a very intense stare-down!  Nightmare fodder, for sure! 😜

                We have seen them swimming across rivers and lakes. More bobbing than swimming. Given more than one a ride, the way there were heading of course.

[Ham]

Put a juicy night crawler in front of a Box Turtle and they become quite animated.

we got a very cold box turtle out of a chilly river and moved him to the bank he appeared to be trying to reach. He was making about 4 strokes a minute.

I also waded put into heavy current to get a box turtle off a log that was surrounded by very fast water and moved him to the top of a gravel bar to decide his next move. I have no idea how he got there and how he got on top of that downed tree, but he was no going to be able to hable those flows.

silly turtles

[bfishn]

This makes me wonder... why do I think box turtles are cool, but softshells are repulsive? Easy enough to understand my dislike of snappers though.

[Ham]

2 hours ago, bfishn said:

This makes me wonder... why do I think box turtles are cool, but softshells are repulsive? Easy enough to understand my dislike of snappers though.

I’ve watched Softshell turtles hunting for food. I like them, but I Don’t trust them to not bite me.