Walking the edge of this cypress swamp, something up ahead caught my eye.
The box turtle gets its name for its ability to close up the bottom of its shell with a “hinge.” Although it lives on land, the box turtle is more closely related to aquatic turtles than tortoises.
This turtle lives in a wide range of habitats, including woodlands, field edges, thickets, marshes, bogs, and stream banks. Box turtles have high, domed shells and eat a variety of plant and animal matter.
Male Eastern Box Turtles, like this one, often have red eyes. Many Box turtles stay in a small home range (under five acres) most of their lives; they routinely live for several decades, and occasionally for a century or more.
