Help Save the Box Turtles!

In late May, we set out to track one of our transmitter turtles, “ALM.” ALM has been our most traveled box turtle that we have tracked, and has traveled all over and outside of Leigh Farm Park. Because of that, it’s quite a hike for us to track her. Our new conservation interns need to know how to find ALM’s location, so we made a day of it. 

We hiked down a trail, crossed through a neighborhood, and approached the woods near where ALM lives. I looked down...Yes! A box turtle without a transmitter! With any turtle found in Leigh Farm Park, we mark them with a 3 letter code and collect data on measurements, weight, the environment, and more. Since these woods are outside of Leigh Farm Park, we wouldn’t typically mark this turtle. However, once I picked up the turtle, I noticed she was already marked. This means she was probably found inside the park at some point. We collected our data, snapped lots of photos, and left her alone to so she could continue doing turtle-y things. Then, we continued on our trek into the dry swamp to find ALM.  Success! We found ALM!

When we returned to the office, we entered data on the other turtle we found, named “BHI.” After looking at the database, we realized BHI was only found one other time - in 2009! Not only that, BHI was found at the front of the park, which was over ½ mile (as the bird flies) from where she was originally marked. When we collect data, we take measurements all over the shell, and in 10 years her measurements were almost exactly the same. That means, she was an adult when she was first found. It takes box turtles approximately 7-10 years to reach adulthood. Therefore, BHI is at least 20 years old, and probably older than that! She had some injuries to her shell when she was found in 2009, so it’s quite possible she could be closer to 30, 40, or even older! 

I often hear people say that box turtles only live in about an acre (or less) of land, but in actuality, we really don’t know how much land box turtles need - which is why we need your help to continue our research! Obviously ALM and BHI are turtles that like to move, and need a lot of land. If they weren’t in a forested area, would they use less land? Or, would they have to cross roads? Hopefully we can answer some of these questions in the future!

BHI is a great example of why The Box Turtle Connection project is a 100-year project. Many times research projects only last for a couple years, but with long-lived species, it’s important to monitor them for decades or more. Who knows - maybe we’ll find BHI again in another 10 years!

Links:

• Become a Turtle Trekker