Eastern Box Turtle 
129 
Month 
Fig. 4. Seasonal activity patterns of T. c. Carolina from North Carolina 
as measured by the number of specimens collected each month. 
Two egg-bearing females were collected in May, five in June, and seven 
in July. A total of 50 intact eggs were recovered. The number of eggs 
per female ranged from two to seven, with a mode of three. The clutch 
of seven eggs and another of three eggs were infertile. The remaining 40 
eggs were incubated at room temperature in a tray of moistened ver- 
miculite. The tray was enclosed in a plastic garbage bag to maintain a 
high humidity. Thirty-six turtles hatched, with an average incubation 
time of 78.8 days (range 77-80 days). These hatchings were released in 
woodland areas where adults had been collected. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Auffenberg, W., and J. B. Iverson 1979. Demography of terrestrial turtles. 
Pages 541-570 in Turtles, Perspectives and Research, M. Harless and H. 
Morlock, editors. John Wiley & Sons, New York 
Barbour, R. W. 1950. The reptiles of Big Black Mountain, Harlan County, 
Kentucky. Copeia 1950(2): 100-107. 
Bush, F. M. 1959. Foods of some Kentucky herptiles. Herpetologica 15:73-77. 
