Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

1st alternative:
      (Oak (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Assorted Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Northern Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      Dead Down Woody Debris
   adjacent to:
      (Grass or Fields/Pasture)

2nd alternative:
      Upland Brush
      or Savanna
   containing:
      Dead Down Woody Debris

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Loss of wooded habitat to various human uses is the most serious threat to the species, but many box turtles are killed on roads or collected as pets.

This is Michigan's only terrestrial turtle. They typically inhabit open woodlands, often near water, but may wander into thickets, meadows, grassy dunes, and gardens. They will soak at the edges of ponds or streams in hot weather but avoid deep water and swim poorly. Most box turtles remain in a rather small home range (often less than 5 acres) for most of their lives, and they may live a long time - some have passed the century mark.

Eastern box turtles eat a great variety of plants and small animals, including insects, worms, slugs, snails, carrion, mushrooms, berries, and fruit. The young are largely carnivorous but take more plant foods as they grow.

Eggs buried in an open elevated location. Hatchlings spend most of their time hiding under leaves and other forest debris and are rarely seen.

Habitat: Woodlands, field edges, thickets, marshes, bogs, stream banks; typically found in well-drained forest bottomland. Young semi-aquatic. Has been observed swimming in slow-moving streams and ponds. Found chiefly in open deciduous forests. Also found on mountain slopes in Massachusetts. During hot dry weather may rest in mud or water or burrow under logs or decaying vegetation for extended periods. When not active, rests in brush piles and thickets. Hibernates from depths of several inches to 2 feet below surface in loose soil, decaying vegetation, mud, or in stream banks from late fall to April.

Special Habitat Requirements: Old fields, powerline clearings, ecotones with sandy soils favored.

Habitat: It is a woodland species which prefers open, lightly stocked woods, but has been found in both dry and moist woodlands, brushy fields, woodland edges, and bogs. Box turtles are known to enter water or mud during hot weather and are often found near streams, ponds, and other low, wet areas. Box turtles generally enter hibernation at the time of the first killing frost and burrow under loose soil, detritus, or mammal burrows.

The female excavates a nest in loose, well-drained soil, usually in an open area in close proximity to previous years' nests.

The greatest threat to Maine box turtles is fragmentation and destruction of their habitat in Maine.