Hibernation Season

Hibernation, or "brumation", season is upon us! Our Forest Park box turtles have been moving toward their hibernaculum (the spot they will hibernate) for weeks now and are searching out the perfect spot.

Over the past several weeks we have been able to see both Georgette's and Pedro's areas (pictured below). You'll notice that both areas have a decent spot to "hunker down" where surrounding plants (fallen logs, low plant cover) can help guard a turtle from cold winds and predators. Additionally, the falling leaves will create a bit of a "blanket" cover for the turtles, which helps trap heat.

Each hibernaculum and turtle shell has an "ibutton" that will record the temperature every 4 hours. Once the data are downloaded we can check to see what the temperature is really like in the hibernaculum areas!

Happy hibernating guys! See you in the spring!

Georgette's Location





Pedro's Location

Meet Pedro

Meet Pedro!

Pedro is a newly tagged turtle in Forest Park. Since he is newer to the study he is not as used to being handled as some of the others and was a little shy the first time we met him. 

You can see in the first picture that he has a bit of shell damage (this is old damage), but once he came out we could tell that he was looking quite healthy! 

Meet Will!

Meet Will!
Will is a male box turtle from Forest Park. We found him hiding under a log next to turtle GMO (more to come on him later!) near a road.


Turtle Stats:
Weight: 565g
Health Rating: 3 (Looking good!)

Finding Will! 

Cleaning up the park on the way.

Meet Georgette!

Ella and Jack leading the tracking team.

Meet Georgette!
Georgette is a female box turtle from Forest Park. We found her hiding in plants under an oak sapling in Kennedy Woods.
She was found next to a rabbit head, and we were wondering if she was eating parts of it. (It wouldn't be the first time a box turtle was found eating rabbit.)


Turtle Stats:
Weight: 720g
Health Rating: 3.5 (looks healthy - a little on the chunky side though! 3 would be perfect) :)

Georgette is missing her left front leg, but it's healed up over time!

Georgette is coming out to say hi!

Found her!

Welcome Back! Spring Turtle Club

Meet the Members:
Mrs. Hwande: I have been a member of the Captain Box Turtle Club since fall 2016. I teach science to kindergarten - 5th grade students.

Zoe: I have been a member of box turtle club since fall 2016. I am a 4th grader at Captain Elementary School. I love tracking turtles, and am excited to try to find a new turtle to track and name. I am doing box turtle club again because last year was very fun, and I like finding and tracking box turtles. I also love hearing stories about hibernations and movements of the turtles using Movebank.

Bridget: I have been in box turtle club since fall 2016. I am in the 4th grade at Captain Elementary. We have fun tracking box turtles in Forest Park!

Jack: I have been a member of box turtle club since fall of 2016. I joined because it is an enjoyable way to connect with our dear Mother Earth. Peace!

Sophia: I have been in box turtle club since 2016. I came back because I love box turtles and tracking them. I am a 4th grader at Captain Elementary.

Alyssa: I am a 4th grader and love tracking turtles! I have been in box turtle club since it was established.

I'ron: I am in 4th grade and I like turtles!

Alena: I am in 4th grade and have been in turtle club since 2016. I love to draw kawaii turtles. I think turtles are adorable. I love it!

Casey: Why did I want to do this club? Because I like tracking turtles!

Anisa: I joined Box Turtle Club because I wanted to try it out!

Our goals:
Track Turtles in Forest Park and include the GPS coordinates in Movebank
Design a Captain Box Turtle Club shirt
Find new turtle(s) in Forest Park (which we would get to name!)
Share info with Galapagos partners and Principia School partners
"Meet the Turtles" blog entries
World Turtle Day

What Are the Other Types of Box Turtles?

What are the other box turtles?  

The other species of box turtles include: The Eastern box turtle, Desert box turtle, Florida box turtle,  Mexican box turtle, Three toed box turtle, Gulf coast box turtle, Western box turtle, Ornate box turtle, Aquatic box turtle, Terrapene Carolina Putnami (extinct), Yucatan box turtle, McCord’s box turtle, Zhou’s Box turtle and, Yunnan box turtle.

Resources Box Turtles

Box Turtle Ancestry

BOX TURTLES ANCESTRY (Sample: http://www.zilla-rules.com/pet-type/turtles-tortoises)

Box turtles are ancestors of the Reptilia, order Testudines, and suborders Cryptodira, and Pleurodira (“side-neck” turtles). The box turtle and tortoise both have a strong shell that protects them, but they are known for being slow. I wonder...Is their gradual speed because of that hard, cold shell?? And if it is, how do they feel? Box turtles also have beaked mouths so that they can chomp up those delicious slugs and worms. Box turtles should not be sold because then, they are not used to their original habitat, and they sometimes are forced to learn to adapt. It is very, very sad and tragic and we shou––––––––no, we NEED to protect these animals. Eastern box turtles, especially. They are very valuable, but the sad truth is that they are threatened. We really need to help these little animals.