Maggie's Farm

Maggie's Farm readers know how fond we are of Box Turtles and Wood Turtles - two woodland species which can be found in New England, and both under extreme population pressure in these parts - essentially endangered.

When we see them, we tend to see the Box in the shady woods, and the Wood Turtle in the streams, but our pup finds the Wood Turtle in the wet pasture too.

We train our dogs to bark at them, but to never pick them up. The first time they find one, we give them heck with the shock collar and they learn that these turtles are radioactive.

My introduction to the charming Box Turtle was at the Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuary in Wellfleet as a kid. Cape Cod was full of Box Turtles then. Many fewer now, due to cars and dogs and coyotes - and the northward march of raccoons.

Why does the subject come up? Tuesday night, with lightning flashing all around and rumbling thunder in the distance, I took an evening stroll with the flashlight, and stumbled on a Box Turtle digging a hole for her eggs in a sandy patch surrounded by oaks, not far from the marsh. Slow and steady. I have never seen this before.

My first thought was "Wish I had my camera," but my second thought was "Why photograph everything?" It makes it no more real, and this is a special sight, a real gift from nature. So I turned my light away, and left her alone to her arduous task.

Image of a box turtle digging a nest hole, in daylight, from Univ of Ga.