In the act - so to speak

[Jim Smith]

I came across something in my back yard this morning that I have never seen before; a pair of Eastern Box Turtles mating. Sorry that the photo is so poor quality, I was being very careful not to disturb them. You can't really see the female too well, but I was afraid to get any closer or to even focus the camera properly as I didn't want to take the chance that I'd interrupt their business.


http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/Jimws100/1acfc935-139d-4e7f-8dc9-aed1faea405e_zpsoipqljca.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/user/Jimws100/media/1acfc935-139d-4e7f-8dc9-aed1faea405e_zpsoipqljca.jpg.html)

My wife and I stop whenever we see a box turtle on the roads; usually to help them get across safely. That said, there have been a couple we found in very busy high-traffic areas that we relocated to our back yard which backs up to several hundred acres of wilderness.

[Primal Rage]

Very nice Jim! I have yet to see any box turtles in Fayette or Coweta counties this season. If you are lucky you might find some hatchlings this fall!!

[Albert Clark]

Nice picture. That is great and exciting. I wish I was there to see that! Thank you for sharing that.

[Jim Smith]

Primal Rage, Actually counting these two, I've seen six this week. The other four were on the roads and all were in the morning (8-10am) after an evening rain storm so the roads were still wet and the temperatures were not too hot yet. I think that there are "pockets" of these guys where the habitat has not been disturbed yet or at least for a long time. As the summer heats up, I'll see fewer of them, but I still keep an eye out for them to help them across the roads whenever possible.

[Albert Clark]

That's great! When I go to Va. to visit family I always see a lot of reptiles. Box turtles and lizards with toads and occaisional shed skin from a snake.