How can you tell? It's all in the eyes when it comes to eastern box turtles. With few exceptions, female box turtles have brown eyes, and the eyes of males are red.When I was a kid, box turtles were a fairly common find in the undeveloped areas around our neighborhoods. These days, it's an exciting discovery that sometimes leads to a knock on my door. Neighborhood child: "I caught a turtle but it won't eat, Debbie! What am I supposed to feed it?!!"
I always answer with the bad news (bad for the kid, not for the turtle) first - "It's against the law to catch a turtle and keep it in NJ. You're going to have to let him go where you found him." That's always met with a blank stare, so I follow it up with some details on what a turtle is really looking for in a home. I hope my advice will help the child see things from the turtle's perpective, without quelching the enthusiasm of a young naturalist.
In ideal conditions, a box turtle can find everything it needs on land about the size of two NJ McMansion lots. It needs open woodlands and meadow, with at least some moist areas; it favors sites with loose soil, lots of leaf litter, and perhaps some rotting logs.
During hot summer days, box turtles siesta in the shade, concealed under leaves or hiding in a hollow log. From fall to spring in most regions, box turtles hibernate, sometimes as deep as two feet underground.
Box turtles spend the cooler morning hours foraging on a buffet of food choices as only a true omnivore can. Favorite foods include earthworms, slugs, mushrooms, berries, and insects. Oh, and from my own experience I can tell you they like to nibble on impatiens.
The quest for a mate begins soon after a turtle emerges from hibernation in spring. Females may lay several clutches of 3-8 eggs during the spring and summer. After two to three months of incubation, tiny box turtle babies emerge and do their best to stay hidden from the many predators looking for a tasty snack.
So there's your excuse for avoiding that yard work - you could rake the leaves, but then where would the box turtles go?
