Imagine that your body is 10 times the size of your limbs. Each of your four legs are short, thick, round and tipped with long narrow claws. Your body is also your home that you carry around with you everywhere you go. In fact, your spine is fused to the hard domed-shaped shell structure that you call home. You can withdraw your legs and neck back into the shell but that is all, even though some people believe you can crawl out of your shell.

You live on the forest floor and with your short legs it means you move slowly and with some difficulty as you navigate all the obstacles such as rocks and fallen tree branches. However, you are different from the other critters who look like you. All the other critters that look like you live in the water, and swim around effortlessly, but you are definitely a slow, land-based critter.

I don’t think you had any trouble deducing from these clues that the critter is a turtle, however, did you figure out I was referring to the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)? In many areas, the box turtle is the only land based or terrestrial turtle species. It is not a species of tortoise which is most likely the best-known land-based turtle-like species. If you are a little confused right now, let me just say that there are big differences between turtles and tortoises. I want to look at the land-based turtle, the Eastern Box Turtle.

The box turtle has a high domed upper shell called the carapace. It is often highly ornamented with a different pattern, often in a dull yellow color. The bottom shell, called the plastron, is hinged at the front and back portions. This hinged area allows the turtle to withdraw into the shell and close up tight like a box, hence the common name of these animals. This is different from the aquatic turtles that can withdraw their legs and neck but aren’t able to close up their shell.

The skin on the legs, neck and head is brown or black with yellow, orange, red and sometimes white spots, and streaks. Males have bright red eyes and females have brown eyes. A turtle’s shell is made of bone which is covered by a vascularized tissue (living) which is then covered by a thin layer of keratin, which is similar to our fingernails. These three layers make up the shell of the turtle. As the turtle grows it sheds the outer layer, similar to how we shed our own skin, to make room for the larger layers below.

So, you might be wondering why I would be writing about an Eastern Box Turtle in the middle of winter. The other day I was asked about how these turtles survive winter. And this is where things get very interesting. Each fall the Eastern Box Turtle will burrow as deep as they can into the ground under the leaves and soils on the forest floor. At this point they enter a state of inactivity that is like hibernation but technically it is not hibernation. When reptiles, like turtles, cool down for winter it is called brumation or torpor. It allows the turtle to survive without food or drink for long periods of time. The word brumation usually refers to reptiles and describes their winter dormancy.

These turtles occur as far north as Maine on the east coast and Michigan in the central part of the country. So, you can imagine the turtles in these regions need to brumate for long periods of time and must survive temperatures well below zero. This is what I find so amazing about these critters.

Box turtles have high home territory fidelity and often stay in the same home range for their entire lives. And speaking of their entire lives, these turtles can live upwards of 30 years. However, in the wild these turtles face many obstacles which dramatically shorten their life spans. The most pressing of these issues is loss of habitat. Building roads and houses forces the turtles into smaller and smaller areas. In addition, the more roads, the greater the chance they will be hit by cars. No doubt the changing climate along with its associated weather extremes, will also represent a major challenge for these turtles.

Another huge challenge and one of my biggest pet peeves are the removal, or as I like to say kidnaping, of turtles from the wild and sold as pets represents the biggest threat to the wild population. This directly depletes the population and is also highly illegal but seems to still be a very large problem.

This winter take a minute to think about all the reptiles and amphibians that are in brumation on the forest floor of your local woodland and consider just how amazing these little critters are. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the world to capture images of wildlife. He can be followed at www.Instagram.com and www.Facebook.com. He can be contacted via his website at www.NatureSmart.com.