This is the most beautiful box turtle that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
The Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) is a very interesting species. First of all, it is a terrestrial turtle, unlike so many other turtles that are aquatic. Also, it has a hinged shell that allows it to pull its head, tail, and legs into the shell and close it tight. This works well when a hungry raccoon or other predator comes along and tried to eat it.
It has a most interesting diet which includes all sorts of wild greens, berries, insects, and even dead animals. I once caught one eating a dead rabbit out in a field. They can live for almost 40 years, and their beauty makes them a candidate for the pet trade. Once, they were widely eaten by humans and in some areas, like Wisconsin, their numbers never fully recovered. It is still listed as an Endangered Species up in Wisconsin, and though we see them regularly here in Arkansas, I've never encountered one in the wild in Wisconsin.
Here are the photos from this shoot. I wet the turtle first to bring out the colors.
Just to liven things up a bit, here are a few original gifs.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-ornate-box-turtle
Until next time…
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That is such a cool turtle. I've never seen one like that.
Thanks Papa!!
They are up there near you, South-Western part of the state, they are just hard to come by.
omg this brings me bad memories :( . a few months ago i fond a turtle in the middle of a transit road, at soon as I saw her I was commited to help her, I got her out the road, bring her home for like a day then i decided to drop her in a near by creek thats behind my cusin house ( the turtle was a ground turtle0) of curse i didnt throw her in the creek i just put her where a lot of vegetation was and animals, in the following days after the i drop her i went to my cusins house and i found out that he kill her by shooting at her at the shelt with a bb gun. ( he didnt know i drop her there ) .. poor turtle , it was all my fault :(
That is a bad memory. What a mean cousin.
That is some crazy perspective - I really thought the turtle was larger then when I saw the final pic WOW, its a little fella.
Beautiful color.
Wow! It looks like an artistic kid drew on him with a highlighter! Beautiful! I am surprised to see how small he is. Until the pic with you I thought he was bigger. They must grow their entire lives in order for one to be eating a dead rabbit! Thanks for the cool post and pictures of a critter I have never seen before! Hope that new baby is doing well, I prayed for you all and even guessed right that he was a boy! :)
Excellent post brother. What a magnificent creature. Do you know how big they get?
Not too much bigger than this guy. Maybe seven or eight inches long would be my guess.
Thanks for your prayers, and great job guessing correctly. Put that STEEM to good use!
Turtles are my favorite animals and ones like this are really cool!
nice...u deserve resteem and upvote...
Those turtle gifs are somehow addicting. I feel like they need to be turned into a meme or something... Anyone up for the challenge?
Give it a go if you want to! I'm glad that you enjoy them!
Loved your post. Upvoted and followed. Resteemed. The whole family enjoyed. Thanks.
Glad to hear it. Thank you too!
Wow, he/she is gorgeous! I love the colouring on the shell. Those eyes though, they seem to be saying 'get that damn camera outta ma face'
Thanks for sharing, I am fascinated by reptiles of all sorts
I am fascinated by all reptiles too!
Even these guys!
The brown eyes are a giveaway that she's a female turtle. The males have red eyes. They are beautiful animals, for sure!
an awesome turtle
Yes it is! Thank you very much!
you're welcome. Enjoy your Thursday
I remember box turtles in the wild when I was growing up in Minnesota!
We had some in Wisconsin, but they were rare and considered endangered.
great pics, love the bright yellow on it
Me too, it has a striking color, especially when wet.
Papa, where the hell do you meet all of these cool and freaking crazy animals?
In the wild, after all I'm a #wild-man!
That's so cool!
Soooooo cute!!! Turtles are so adorable. He even poked his head out to say hello.
He sure did! Beautiful eyes too!
:) I got close to the critters today too :P
Great! Glad to hear it!
Yes you did! Thanks for the heads up!
That is one VIBRANT Turtle. What a lovely home he has.
No kidding. A marvelous home indeed!
Are you sure Arkansas isn't where the Ark touched down? You have got the Ark bit, you have got the animals, even got the good family.
The new camera is working well.
Haha, perhaps. There are mountains here.
I love these guys. I use to have a quite few in years passed. One summer I took pictures of them to see if I could keep track of them in coming years, Each turtle has a beautiful unique pattern. They are our present dinosaurs.
They are some very interesting animals! Thanks!
Just wow! You are so lucky to have so many turtles around! I wonder where Cambodian turtles go! Obviously not in my garden :-(
Maybe I'll come have a look over there one day and see if I can't find some for you.
The pepper family is more than welcome here at any time! If we can't find turtles, we have many varieties of snakes, lizards, spiders, birds, etc to have a good look at! But I'm sure there must be turtles somewhere! They are just masters in disguise it seems...
Good to know. I'll let you know if we are in the area!
Glad to see you are still on here, still offering great content!
Quick question. How are Terrestrial Turtles and Tortoises different?
I think that it is mostly the shape of the feet, where tortoises have more Elephantine feet. Box Turtles can go by and even in water, but they cannot swim or paddle like other ones. Also, there may be something with the shell, since tortoises have solid shells, but, then again, so do most turtles...
These were really the only turtles I would see in the woods in Indiana. There were snaping turtles in the pond though and I was always afraid I was going to get my toes bit.
Caught a snapper today. Might do an educational video about it tomorrow.
Box turtles are so cool and were so much a part of my childhood in the woods. Tragic story though- a few years back I was 4wheelin on what was barely a fire road in Mineral VA and I ran over a box turtle in the mud- still haunts me.
Oh no, tragic story indeed!
That's a beautiful box turtle. I had one as a pet as a kid for a while. I rescued him from a lawn mower. Eventually I let him go near a river. He wasn't as pretty as yours.
We rescue some from lawn mowers too!
yay been waiting for one of these!
took a while for you to come out of your shell again :)
LOL! I've got more to come already shot, and a few animals still running around. I just like to keep things a little random and diverse!
I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and thankful for your support! Steem on!
I agree I think @papa-pepper had some help from this guy. :)
Uh oh....
Small little guy eh!
Eh!
If box turtles come across a nest of baby rabbits, they will eat them alive, too, don't let those innocent brown eyes fool you! She is a beautiful girl, alright! Her brown eyes are the giveaway - the males have red eyes. You really have some nice pictures of this turtle! I really like that last still image and the closeup two images above that. Great photos!
That was one of my favorites too! Thanks!
They are such beautiful animals.
Hi papa-pepper, That box turtle is now one famous little turtle thanks to you. The colors on gorgeous little guy is striking. I was also amazed by its size in the pic were you re next to it. I love animals of all types and sizes. I was not aware that one of the little peppers is not well, my blessings and prayers are with you and the family.
I genuinely enjoy looking through your animal photo shoots; you always shoot them like supermodels! And the gifs topped it.
Wow he's a beauty!
Hi @pappa-pepper, this is amazing photos, of an amazing animal!!
Gosh it is so tiny compared to your head, it looks marvellously healthy so your environment must be pretty clean there. So pleased you treasure natures creatures.