What have Abby and Evan found exciting lately? Box turtles! Between yesterday and today we have seen three box turtles on our walks. This has prompted us to learn some fun box turtle facts - kind of interesting to us, maybe to whoever happens to read this blog!
Box Turtle Facts
- box turtles can live to be over 100 years old
- never eat a box turtle as they can be toxic due to their consumption of poisonous mushrooms
- females usually lay 4-5 eggs - this is called a clutch; several clutches are laid each year
- young box turtles are normally carnivorous for the first 4-5 years while adult box turtles tend to be herbivores
- box turtles will not eat green leaves (We observed a turtle eating a brown leaf today.)
- they hibernate as early as October in the north by digging down as far as two feet deep into the ground
- male turtles have longer, thicker tales than their female counterparts
- females have yellowish-brown irises while males have red irises
- fertile eggs can be laid by a female box turtle up to four years after a successful mating
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