rlssc's Blog
rlssc's Blog
Last Post 96 days, 9 hours Ago
Jul 3, 2008 | 5:52 PM PST
Not sure if it was the bannana or the the sprinkler, but Frank came plodding through the yard this evening and sat under the sprinkler for about 30 mintes and gorged himself on a bannana. So he is still prowling the garden areas, sneeking up on all the slugs. He wants it to rain as much as I do. One 15 minute rain in 6 weeks, keeps us both unhappy.
Jun 29, 2008 | 7:15 PM PST
I am not sure where he has been but it has been nearly a week since Frank tried to assault the sprinkler. When sitting on the deck early in the mornings I do hear some rustling in our mum bed below the deck and wonder if it is him. He usually gets an arly start to his day but for the past six weeks we have had almost no rain and temperatures in the mid to upper 90's. I do leave a strawberry or piece of bannana in the mum bed every other day and it always is missing. He is either getting his rations or there is a bird that needs to attend weight watchers. Perhaps he is angry with me as I have purchased a commercial sprinkler that sits three feet off the ground and is made of steel and brass. I do find small depressions in the mulch where it appears he has been trying to cool down during these horribly hot days.
We did get an entire 5 minutes of rain this evening but it was past Frank's bedtime so I called my grandson instead and told him to go look out side, something great was happening. His response, "does that mean I can not go swimming tomorrow?".....wish I had the perspective of a six year old.
Jun 23, 2008 | 11:35 AM PST
This post has been edited by an administrator
As you can tell I am biased towards the box turtle. The Delaware Indians named them “sticky feet” due you understand what I am saying. As strong as my bias is for the turtle, I am also an advocate of not having them as pets for small children. Staying in a cardboard box in the house is not what this loveable creature requires. (Besides, remember what all they do in their water bowl). I am also not advocating kidnapping a turtle to place in your garden, perhaps build a bog garden and you may hear James Earl Jones say, “Build It and They Will Come”. If I can asset you in anyway please do not hesitate to contact me, the benefits of helping these creatures far outweigh the negatives, help one across the road sometime and you may have a benefit in your garden that you could not ever dream of.to slow trudging speed and flat feet. Occasionally at the Nursery we see them but they prefer to hide amongst the plants and bask in the many pools set about for them. You may hear one running on those flat feet on the black plastic floor of the shade tent…..well running is not the appropriate description but you get the general idea.
I will include pictures of the turtle gang in my profile page should be interested. I hope you enjoy reading this, and if I can help you in any way, please contact me.
I will include some other sources for you below. Let me know what you think.
Jun 23, 2008 | 11:30 AM PST
During the past 6 weeks, we have had very limited rainfall. We are in the midst of a drought again. This also presents turtles with difficulties. Not only do you have to keep their pen free from ants but also clean water. The box turtle will lounge in a pool of water for drinking, cleaning their nostrils, to lower body temperatures in extreme warm periods and to wash their eyes and anal openings. Hence, keep the water pool clean! Several days of non cleaning, will not be a pleasant experience for you. Prior to six weeks ago, the weather was normal, so we sodded our yard. Since then we have been watering daily sections for hours to keep it alive, along with our garden. Since we started that process we have had a visitor staying in the Verbena or the Foxglove, we call him Frank (notice no number). When the sprinklers are in use Frank will emerge and give the up and down motion with head and body of dominance and charge the sprinkler. We are not sure if it is an Alpha thing with him or he is just excited to be riding the sprinkler. He has ruined one sprinkler by climbing on board and breaking the rotation wand but he found another one.
If you plan to develop a gardens that would include box turtles, they will need a small enclosed house full of mulch, leaves, topsoil etc. to burrow into for the winter. If you wish them to remain in your garden area, you will need at least 12” walls around it. Hint, if you use railroad ties they will climb out. Landscaping stones are best, 2-3 high. Probably one turtle or 2 is adequate for most gardens. Things to remember, they will eat your soft vegetables if they touch ground, they require water and supplemental feed. They love bananas, and any soft fruit. They are omnivores, which mean they eat pretty much anything. They require a form bone meal to boost their diet; this could be sprinkled on their food or use a cuttle bone. I leave an old bone in their pen and they do gnaw a bit on it. Our turtle’s favorite meals are sardines and bananas. (Sardines packed in mineral water). Their favorite meal on the prowl are slugs, not pleasant to watch them eat one but they will. Snails can be a bit dangerous for them to eat due to fragments from the shell but I have seen them shred a shell open with their claws and only consume the inside. I have also provided them with shrimp bits which they do love as well as peaches, tomatoes, grapes and cherries.
Jun 23, 2008 | 11:28 AM PST
This post has been edited by an administrator
. In October of that year I was standing in the drive way, when Molly and Bull came wondering down the driveway and made a beeline for their home they had had for 18 years or so. I picked them up put them in the pen and they began excavating a winter home immediately. Needless to say when we moved, the first arrivals were a dozen box turtles in their pen. Since moving into our new home, in a less congested area, we have released five turtles into a boggy woodland area. They must be content as they have not shown back up yet. We have also released two box turtles, Bull and Izzie, into a local Plant Nursery where I work part time. I will be releasing several more this month. they are of great benefit to your garden area, eating slugs, snails, insects etc. If you have treated for slugs with chemical or pellets I would wait a good while to share your garden with a turtle as the pesticide could damage or kill the turtle.
Neighbors and folks I never met have come to the house with box turtles that have been injured and we have nursed them back to health. In all the years we have lost one, a very severe injury from an automobile. Their only natural predator are cottonmouth snak.es or copperhead snakes. An occasional coyote, fox, owl, hawk or dog will attempt to grab one but once they escape into the comfort of their shell, it is nearly impossible to pry them out. The vulnerable spot is their tail; several turtles in our pen do not have one, mainly due to this type of predation. Yes your dog will find them fascinating so do not let them play with them.
Jun 23, 2008 | 11:22 AM PST
In April, following the winter, Molly reappeared from hibernation began peering into the French doors again, more or less to rind us, “hey! Fill the pool and give me some food”. It was also at that time all the other box turtles were coming through hibernation and beginning their trudging about, namely trying to cross streets. The box turtle will usually only roam 750 feet or so from its home area but as more and more land is developed they become forced to move further and further, thus automobiles become their primary predator. During those warm misty rain filled morning of April and May, we found more and more turtles along the road, and in the road, and we brought them home also. Yes my daughter named all of them. I tried a bit to detach myself from them and assign them numbers written on a label and stuck on their shell but fell to referring to them by name. Someone once asked me if they were pets, answer is “no”! The box turtle does not respond to affection nor gives it; it is more or less a tolerating relationship as the box turtles are primarily loners until it is time for breeding. Besides, when was the last time you threw a Frisbee for a turtle? I know it sounds callous but I do like them. I have released some but others remain…even Molly, who by my best estimate is almost 50 years old. If you pick up a box turtle, you can get an estimate of age based on the ring lines of their shell, similar to a tree. Two years ago we were planning to move into a new home, so I told my daughter I should probably release the turtles, so we did a trial release of Molly and Bull in May, two years ago. We would be moving in November across town and that would give them ample time to re locate themselves to a similar environment. In October of that year I was standing in the drive way, when Molly and Bull came wondering down the driveway and made a beeline for their home they had had for 18 years or so.
Jun 23, 2008 | 11:14 AM PST
Part I: The Box turtle and Your Garden
I will admit my intentions nearly 18 years ago were not for the purpose of gardening but to satisfy the request of my youngest daughter. She had found an injured box turtle and brought it to me to see if I could help it, it was injured by its number one predator….people in cars. We were fortunate to live in a townhouse with an enclosed brick wall patio and I could turn him out in that area to recuperate after some first aid, peroxide, bandages, Neosporin, red first aid spray etc. That was my initial experience with the box turtle, which my daughter named Molly. How did we know it was Female? Well more on that later.
After several months I began to notice we had no slugs, snails, or any kind of bugs on our plants in our patio garden. Having a Biology degree and remembering the scientific principles, I shrugged my shoulders and assumed they had moved out! Molly was persistent, she had a lounging pool, was fed a good diet of bananas, sardines, strawberries, etc on a daily basis and when curious, which box turtles are, she would appear at the patio French doors and peer through the glass as we ate or watched television. The small extended yellow and black spotted neck following our every move in the house.
As winter was approaching she burrowed beneath our fireplace wood rack, on the patio, and spent a warm and comfortable winter sheltered by the seven foot brick walls and the neatly stacked piles of fireplace wood. I took this time to better inform myself and my daughter about turtles and began reading books and searching the infant internet, at that time, for more information. So it was then I became afflicted with an avid interest in box turtles.
