We live in a typical suburb. But there is a creek at the back of the neighborhood. So we do get interesting visitors sometimes. Including this little one, a Florida box turtle. This is a first for me in the yard. I was pulling into the driveway when I noticed it blocking my way into the garage. Opening the garage door scared it, and the turtle retreated into its shell. Here’s a pic of when I jumped out to see if it was ok.
Aren’t the markings neat? The turtle even showed me some leg for a couple of minutes. But when I got closer it hid.
Some people keep these turtles as pets, but I think this is a wild turtle. It seemed a little confused where it was, and again there is water nearby. Turns out these turtle are omnivores, so there might have been some critters in the yard that looked mighty tempting.
When I jumped into my car to lock it up while the turtle hung out, the little bugger high tailed it into the garage! Check out how small it is, in comparison to the garbage can.
Now I was in a quandary, because I did not want to pick up the turtle and scare it, but it needed to get back outside! Luckily seeing my feet step before the turtle was all it took for it to turn around. Then I just gently talked to it, hoping little buddy would head back out. It worked!
You could hear the shell scraping on the concrete of the driveway, but once it got into the yard, the turtle really hauled again, and headed right for the corner of the house. We have Loropetalum bushes there and it was a good place to hide and look for food. The turtle stuck around for a little more than an hour, then left. I am glad I came home when I did, so I got to meet this little visitor. Here is more information on Florida Box Turtles and an initiative farther south to try and protect them.
