The Box TuRles 



Distribution. — The New England States, to South Carolina 

 (inclusive) and westward to Kansas. 



Habits of the Box Turtle 



There is no reptile possessing greater immunity from harm 

 than the Box Turtle. Once its shelly fortress is closed there 

 are few living creatures except man that can harm the fleshy 

 parts within. Other chelonians, although withdrawing the 

 head and limbs within the shell at times or danger, are in much 

 the same predicament when discovered by a hungry animal 

 as the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand to 

 "conceal" itself from harm. Sharp claws, mounted on sinuous 

 limbs, or the talons of the birds of prey can readily tear the ex- 

 posed fleshy parts of the ordinary turtle from its shell. 



Though the Box Turtle closes its shell in a manner to ap- 

 propriately elicit the creature's popular name — and effectually 

 protect the reptile from harm, individuals vary as regards the 

 perfect closing of the hinged portions of the plastron against 

 the upper shell. The writer has examined specimens with which 

 the lobes of the plastron closed so perfectly against the carapace 

 that at no part of the union of upper and lower shell was there 

 sufficient space to insert such a small object as a broom straw. 

 Indeed, it does not appear possible that such specimens could 

 breathe without difficulty, for they usually remain tightly closed 

 for an hour or more — or as long as there is the slighest suspicion 

 of danger. Other specimens close less perfectly, so that it is 

 possible to insert a good-sized quill in several places around 

 the plastron, while there are occasional specimens with which 

 the plates at the extremities of the plastron protrude slightly 

 from the border of the upper shell and thus prevent a good union 

 — sometimes to such an extent that the limbs may be seen 

 through an orifice of about an eighth of an inch. 



The muscles that close the plastron are of great power. 

 It is by no means an easy matter to pry the shells apart, even 

 though one have strong hands and be provided with an im- 

 plement of such leverage as a chisel. Some specimens are so 

 fat from voracious feeding during the berry season that they 

 are unable to close both lobes of the plastron simultaneously — 

 the pressure of one-half of the lower shell upon the fleshy parts 

 ludicrously forcing open the other. 



60 



