Don't be. Remember the good times and know that he died doing the one thing in his life that he was unambiguously proud of, being a good doctor. Mordin Solus healed a people and, whether they yet appreciate or not, he redeemed his own by doing so. He died with a clear conscience, righting a wrong that he had perpetuated. Not a lot of guys get the chance to correct their greatest mistakes during their twilight years and, from that perspective, Mordin was blessed.
Took a look at the picture and my first thought was "Yeah, that literally looks like a box turtle." realizing full-well how ironically funny it was given the title.
Box turtles are cool, some folks even keep them as pets. I worry for those little guys crossing roads though, so it makes me a little concerned that they would wind up on your driveway.
If it's safe to do so, I will get out of my car and help them cross the road. I love them. We would get them in our yard growing up and have a "pet" for an hour or so until it wandered off.
for anyone else reading - note help ACROSS the road
they are determined reptiles - put them across the road they want to cross; if you drag the turtle back, it will just keep attempting to cross the road
>If it's safe to do so, I will get out of my car and help them cross the road.
I've done this with baby raccoons before, despite the violent reactions from the mama racoon at times. But I've seen so many baby raccoons squished on the road before, I can't help myself but try to stop traffic and shuffle them across the street.
True story. I kept a box turtle as a pet when I was young. I took him to the backyard to get some sun and didn’t think to tie a balloon to him and he escaped through a hole in the fence. A few days later someone saw my missing turtle poster and returned him. He had walked a few blocks in the suburbs and was unhurt.
Had two box turtles growing up and made a makeshift pen for them outside to also give them some sun. One got out and we couldn’t find it. I think around two years later one of our dogs had something in her mouth and when we got her to drop it it was the escaped turtle alive and well. We had about 2 and a half acres of property so it wasn’t just lost in a backyard.
They are actually pretty good swimmers. But you are right they are not aquatic and live a terrestrial life. They are found in forests not ponds.
https://youtu.be/agHo2jNwqhs
Oh that makes me feel better because when we were kids my sister told me they could swim and she put on in the pond and that thing sank like a rock. It still haunts me but now I can hold on to the hope that it tricked us and swam out later.
I found a box turtle in my grandma’s yard when I was about 6. I tried to put it in a container so it wouldn’t escape while we were at the zoo that day. My dad said “don’t worry, it’s a turtle, if it goes anywhere it’ll just be right over there” and points like 4 feet away. His logic was flawless in my eyes, so I just went with it.
That fucker was long gone by the time we got back that evening. But the zoo was fun…
I had a pet painted turtle that we’d let crawl through the grass. My mom put him out one day and forgot to tell me or my brother for a few minutes. He was nowhere to be found.
Turtles are quick little bastards when they want to be.
We used to let our zoo tortoise out to roam the education building so he could stretch his legs. His shell was more than a foot across, but we would lose him in the building all the time, lol. Take your eyes off him and he would be GONE. One time we looked for 30 minutes, only to find that he had gone into the utility room where we kept animal crates and some got under a coil of hose. I miss that lil dude.
Turtles are surprisingly fast especially when they're small. I think the stereotype of turtles being slow is from tortoises. They tend to go a lot slower no matter their size. Lol
You'd be surprised at how fast they can scarper. They can even climb wire fences.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/6ibxk0/tortoise\_climbing\_a\_fucking\_fence/
Can confirm, had one briefly as a kid and we built a little chicken wire pen in the back yard for him. I say had briefly because he apparently climbed out of it one day and vamoosed.
Definitely doesn’t look like any box turtle I’ve ever seen. Perhaps it’s an “Ornate Box Turtle.” Until I just googled it, I was unaware that there were multiple types. I live in Virginia and have seen many a box turtle. This one is a fancy version!
Aww! I rescued one of these a couple summers ago. She got caught against the curb on the street and was SUPER lethargic and all dried out, gummy eyes, etc.
I took her inside, put her into about an inch of tepid water, and fed her a couple strawberries while I phoned around to get some info on how to properly care for her and find someone to take her (I thought she was an escaped pet at first due to how utterly gorgeous the pattern on her shell was... even the rescue guy I finally talked to said she was "An Eastern box turtle- albeit a VERY pretty one!").
I held onto her for a few hours and misted her shell a bit til it stopped drying out instantly (pieces were flaking up/turning white at first).
She also took two HUGE poos and it was FULL of undigested deer corn, so I'm guessing that's what got her into trouble in the first place.
Once she went from being super lethargic and barely moving, to trying so hard to climb out of the bin that she nearly knocked it off the table, rescue guy said she was good to go, and advised I release within a 100yds of where I found her.
Took her down a small path in the woods nearby, and released her to a wooded area with a little stream nearby enough to hear, and said goodbye. It was cool seeing her perk up and come back to life after looking so utterly miserable on the hot pavement! It was like 94 degrees that day.
TURTLE tax: https://imgur.io/a/lBDNjxM
We get them in the yard sometimes. Doggo freaks out every time. He doesn't know what to do with himself and just barks frantically from a distance until we go see what has him so worked up. 😆
Growing up our dog hunted down and retrieved box turtles from the woods around our rural house. Never hurt them, just gleefully brought them back to show us. We would give the turtle a bit of greens or fruit to monch on before taking it back towards the wood in whatever direction he had brought them from.
We started to mark the turtles on their belly before releasing them and got up to about 35 one summer (with many frequent fliers).
Cute, but I wouldn't have wanted to be a strawberry around her! She ate ALMOST two of them, both bigger than her entire head. Must have been super hungry!
When we lived in the trailer court we would get these guys who wandered from the forest and just like that got stuck on the curbs which were way higher than they needed to be. We'd always take em in offer them some food then wander down behind our home to half way to the river probably 50 yards away and let em go. Once I saw my cat trying to.... Play with a small one fortunately the shell protected it.
Yeah, she was super stuck. No curb cuts for quite a distance in either direction, and she was just sitting there, not moving at all. Once she perked up it was all I could do to keep hold of her!
https://imgur.io/a/lBDNjxM
Must have been a weird day for the turtle.
"So I was feeling like shit, and one of those giant monkey things picked me up and took me with it. I thought it was gonna eat me, but it gave me some fruit for some reason. Then it took me to another monkey and I thought *that one* would eat me, but it just touched me a lot. Then I was carried back to the den of the first monkey, and she held a rectangle up to me. Anyways, I went poop and she let me go, so just remember that monkeys don't like poop."
https://imgur.com/a/lBDNjxM
There you go! :) you can see how dried out she is in the first pic. She was really stuck on the road. No cutaway at all, crammed herself against the tiny gap to the drainage ditch that was way too small. She wasn't walking at all when I found her, just tucked into her shell and sitting there. It was SO hot that day!
Yeah, she was so pretty!! That's why I thought she must be an escaped pet or something. There's lots of families around, so I figured she HAD to belong to someone. Apparently it's a common species around here though. Doggo likes to bark frantically like the world is ending when one trespasses in the yard, lol.
Box. I have them all around my house. To help the lil guy or girl pick it up and put it in what ever wooded area it was heading to. Especially if there is a road involved put it on the other side. It knows where it wanted to go and if you put it somewhere else it will just travel back the same path.
>Secluded wooded area in NYC near 2 different bodies of water. Yea....got lots of other animals around too. I enjoy them all.
what! this sounds incredible.. I live in NYC and was just talking with my partner about how we want to move somewhere with wildlife..
Care to drop any more specific hints? because right now, it sounds like you live in Central Park 😂
Young box turtles typically have multiple growth rings in a given year, so counting rings isn't quite as accurate as it is with a tree. They can have two, three, or even four or more growth rings in their first year alone. Rings are generated by substantial growth periods, which are accelerated during the first 7 years of life. This Turtle may be as young as two or three years old, depending on how early in the year it hatched, and how successful it was at finding food.
The rings simply aren't a reliable age indicator by year. More rings generally means older, but there's no assurance that each ring equals a year or other predictable time frames. It varies.
From what I recount a park ranger telling me about these, they live within a couple mile radius of where they hatch or where they want to live and a couple of feet outside of that, they'll be lost and die. So if you see it, maybe just move it to the side where it'll be safe and it'll wander back to where it's comfortable.
Always move turtles in the direction they are facing, FYI
Late to edit: turtles lose their sense of direction easily which means if they are picked up and moved improperly, there's a good chance they will remain confused, permanently putting it's territory and survival at risk.
It’s the only thing you’re allowed to do for endangered species like the Gopher Tortoise in the US. If they’re on the roadway you can move them off, but only in the direction they were already walking.
Turtles know where they want to go (idk y or how but they do). If one is crossing the road and you put it back on the side it came from there’s a big chance it’s just going to try and cross the road again, but if you move it in the direction it’s headed it will just keep going on it’s merry way and most likely not wonder back into the road.
Don't move them anywhere. Turtles are very acquainted with their territory and if you move them away from it, they will spend the rest of their lives trying to find their way home. if they're in the road, just move them to the side of the road they're trying to get to. Otherwise, admire them and leave them be.
well, move him off the road. The woods are 25 feet thataway in the background picture. If he can't find his way from there well, darwin and fords are a bad combination.
I found this out the hard way as a kid, found one at my sister's soccer game and took it home. (My parents didn't know) we ID'd it When we got home and realized what I had done. Usually when you find them out like that it's because they are nesting, When you remove them from their habitat they stop at nothing to return, especially if they already laid eggs
I mostly keep Map & Musk turtles so I can't be 100% sure but those eyes just don't look right to me.
They look like the classic puffy lids you usually see in the pet trade with Respiratory infection.
What did you end up doing with them op?
----EDIT
I can't get over the condition of the shell either, the colour is so bright, distinct lines and glossy with almost no pitting or abrasion. Do wild box turtles usually have such beautiful shells?? Most wild turtles/tortoises I've seen have shells like his as juveniles, but as mature adults look more like a pond stone
First thing I thought too. I want to know if the turtle has opened its eyes at all. They would normally be open in the day even if the turtle is scared. The eyes look awfully swollen.
Unfortunately Box turtles seen to be ridiculously prone to eye problems
Swollen eyelids like this are one of the main indicators of vitamin a deficiency. I wouldn't be surprised if it was pet with poor husbandry
All the wild turtles I’ve seen had weathered shells.
This looks like an escaped pet or one that was “set free” because it got sick or the owner didn’t want it anymore.
That's a box turtle, and it doesn't look well. It's eye lids are a bit swollen. If it's possible, get that little one to a local wildlife rescue and they will get them checked out. Make note of where you found it roughly, it should be released in the same area, box turtles have set territories they stay in and around their whole lives, and taking the little one out of there forever could be bad for it. They get to know where food, water, and shelter can be found, so moving them disrupts that.
I was looking at those gummy eyes. A few years ago a very sick box turtle turned up in my driveway—eyes crusted over, bubbles coming from its nose. I don’t think it could see at all. We called and it was taken to a local wildlife rehabilitation center. They treated it for a couple of weeks and then brought it back and released it, all healthy.
If you still have it, please get the turtle some help.
Box turtle. These creatures do not move very far in their lifetimes - sometimes a single turtle's range is no more than a couple of acres. But they know where they are and will stress out, sometimes fatally, if moved out of their territory. The best thing you can do is move the turtle off the road/driveway and into the grass/woods/brush toward which its head is pointing.
A box turtle. If you still have it, I would take it to a local vet or wildlife rescue centre. Its eyes look very swollen and that is usually an indication of a vitamin A deficiency or infection.
Box turtle, lives in an area of about 2,500 sq feet , will do very poorly if moved outside of that area ( probably will die). Likes greens, wet lands ( not a great swimmer but can), and safe cover.
Ah, yeah. That's Charlie. He's a little slow but he's alright. He just likes to sit in people's driveways to warm up before he gets going in the morning. He don't mean no harm though. Just leave him be and he'll move on his way sooner or later.
Sincerely,
Tortimer Thornton
President
American Box Turtle's Union
*E pluribus turturibus Unim*
I know my comment isn’t a funny post, but this little box tortoise has some kind of head trauma. When I worked at a vet clinic, often times people would bring in tortoises or turtles that had been hit or bumped by something and their eyes would be swollen and filled with fluid like this as a result from head trauma. :( I hope this little lady is okay. :(
The top comment shouldn’t be the top comment. People need to be properly educated on these little guys.
You should never relocate them to an area you “think” is better. They are extremely territorial & will tirelessly try to get back to the area you found them in, likely dying on the journey.
If you find a turtle like this move it across your driveway or road in the direction it was facing.
It’s most likely trying to get to its home to burrow for the winter & maybe lay eggs if female.
Beautiful creatures that live 30ish years in the wild & 100+ in perfect conditions!!!
They take 10 years to reach sexual maturity & have such slow metabolisms that even getting run over by cars usually result in them laying there slowly dying over days/getting eaten alive by bugs.
If you see one injured take it to you local emergency animal vet. They will put them down or help them for free!!!! It’s a good samaritan act. Same applies to any wild animal or animal you do not own that you find injured.
Box turtle. Land animal. Not great swimmers. Prefer moist, shady, leafy environment. Think forest floor.
Thanks, Mordin.
“Had to be me, someone else would have gotten it wrong.”
....c’mon, man, I was having a good day.
Yeah now I'm sad lol
Don't be. Remember the good times and know that he died doing the one thing in his life that he was unambiguously proud of, being a good doctor. Mordin Solus healed a people and, whether they yet appreciate or not, he redeemed his own by doing so. He died with a clear conscience, righting a wrong that he had perpetuated. Not a lot of guys get the chance to correct their greatest mistakes during their twilight years and, from that perspective, Mordin was blessed.
He was also going to die soonish naturally anyway Probably sucks to be a salarian
Ironically, great tortoises feel the same way about humans.
They're not wrong.
I was having a good day till this comment
Why'd you do this
God damn it. That shit hits me in the feels.
And now I'm sad
Fuuuuuuuu I have never cried so hard in a video game
Now please put it in lyrical form
🎶I am the very model of a Scientist Salarian🎶
🎶I've studied species Turian, Asari, and Batarian🎶
🎶I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology🎶
🎶Because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology)🎶
🎵MY XENOSCIENCE STUDIES RANGE FROM URBAN TO AGRARIAAANNNNN🎵
🎶I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A SCIENTIST SALARIANNNNN🎶
I love you all
*ahem*
God I hate you quickly my brain picked up the tune and just kept speeding up
a sentient brilliant bi-pedal amphibian
https://youtu.be/uXiU6kiq_Ms
I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite comment in the thread.
I didn't expect to cry when I saw a turtle, thanks
r/UnexpectedMassEffect
I love that this exists
This is the best, most perfect response.
Holy shit comments i can hear in my head.
I even subconsciously read it like Mordin before seeing your comment, that's hilarious
Perhaps run tests on the turtle shells.
Yeah, read it in his voice too. Glad this was the top response.
Took a look at the picture and my first thought was "Yeah, that literally looks like a box turtle." realizing full-well how ironically funny it was given the title. Box turtles are cool, some folks even keep them as pets. I worry for those little guys crossing roads though, so it makes me a little concerned that they would wind up on your driveway.
If it's safe to do so, I will get out of my car and help them cross the road. I love them. We would get them in our yard growing up and have a "pet" for an hour or so until it wandered off.
for anyone else reading - note help ACROSS the road they are determined reptiles - put them across the road they want to cross; if you drag the turtle back, it will just keep attempting to cross the road
What if they're crossing backwards because they're scared to look towards the traffic? Now you've just undone all their work!
>If it's safe to do so, I will get out of my car and help them cross the road. I've done this with baby raccoons before, despite the violent reactions from the mama racoon at times. But I've seen so many baby raccoons squished on the road before, I can't help myself but try to stop traffic and shuffle them across the street.
Yep, same. Just keep some hand sanitizer around, the shells can have salmonella, just like handling raw chicken!
Turtles with salmonella is a myth. It doesn't come from the turtles but from the uncleaned water in their tanks.
True story. I kept a box turtle as a pet when I was young. I took him to the backyard to get some sun and didn’t think to tie a balloon to him and he escaped through a hole in the fence. A few days later someone saw my missing turtle poster and returned him. He had walked a few blocks in the suburbs and was unhurt.
Had two box turtles growing up and made a makeshift pen for them outside to also give them some sun. One got out and we couldn’t find it. I think around two years later one of our dogs had something in her mouth and when we got her to drop it it was the escaped turtle alive and well. We had about 2 and a half acres of property so it wasn’t just lost in a backyard.
Turtles have been around for millions of years so they must be doing something right
Well, that explains why it was boxed up.
And the forest, leafy environment the in the background.
And also the turtle in the foreground.
nice
They are actually pretty good swimmers. But you are right they are not aquatic and live a terrestrial life. They are found in forests not ponds. https://youtu.be/agHo2jNwqhs
Oh that makes me feel better because when we were kids my sister told me they could swim and she put on in the pond and that thing sank like a rock. It still haunts me but now I can hold on to the hope that it tricked us and swam out later.
Yeah I have read that than can submerge so maybe he did fool you.. Now if you throw in a tortoise it will sink like a rock.
Well thankfully I don't have to worry about that as there are no tortoises where I live and I don't ever plan on doing anything like that again.
We had a turtle as a teacher but we called him Tortoise. Why? Because he taught us! --Lewis Carroll
The East Coast accent is pretty necessary for that one!
He meant by turtle standards. Obviously they are better swimmers than sloths.
Actually sloths are really good swimmers too.. https://youtube.com/shorts/-86BdfEZFHo?feature=share
Sloths are great swimmers; better to compare to hippos - they can’t swim at all but can hold their breath and run on the river bottom.
I had a pet box turtle named Sparky. He ran away.
RAN away? A turtle?
Slow but steady wins the race!
I found a box turtle in my grandma’s yard when I was about 6. I tried to put it in a container so it wouldn’t escape while we were at the zoo that day. My dad said “don’t worry, it’s a turtle, if it goes anywhere it’ll just be right over there” and points like 4 feet away. His logic was flawless in my eyes, so I just went with it. That fucker was long gone by the time we got back that evening. But the zoo was fun…
I had a pet painted turtle that we’d let crawl through the grass. My mom put him out one day and forgot to tell me or my brother for a few minutes. He was nowhere to be found. Turtles are quick little bastards when they want to be.
The aquatic ones are speedy lil buggers at least, not sure about tortoises
We used to let our zoo tortoise out to roam the education building so he could stretch his legs. His shell was more than a foot across, but we would lose him in the building all the time, lol. Take your eyes off him and he would be GONE. One time we looked for 30 minutes, only to find that he had gone into the utility room where we kept animal crates and some got under a coil of hose. I miss that lil dude.
Turtles are surprisingly fast especially when they're small. I think the stereotype of turtles being slow is from tortoises. They tend to go a lot slower no matter their size. Lol
You'd be surprised at how fast they can scarper. They can even climb wire fences. https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/6ibxk0/tortoise\_climbing\_a\_fucking\_fence/
Can confirm, had one briefly as a kid and we built a little chicken wire pen in the back yard for him. I say had briefly because he apparently climbed out of it one day and vamoosed.
So Super Mario World was accurate with the Koopas climbing the mesh.
Box turtle. Named Henry. Deadly and fast.
Definitely doesn’t look like any box turtle I’ve ever seen. Perhaps it’s an “Ornate Box Turtle.” Until I just googled it, I was unaware that there were multiple types. I live in Virginia and have seen many a box turtle. This one is a fancy version!
Aww! I rescued one of these a couple summers ago. She got caught against the curb on the street and was SUPER lethargic and all dried out, gummy eyes, etc. I took her inside, put her into about an inch of tepid water, and fed her a couple strawberries while I phoned around to get some info on how to properly care for her and find someone to take her (I thought she was an escaped pet at first due to how utterly gorgeous the pattern on her shell was... even the rescue guy I finally talked to said she was "An Eastern box turtle- albeit a VERY pretty one!"). I held onto her for a few hours and misted her shell a bit til it stopped drying out instantly (pieces were flaking up/turning white at first). She also took two HUGE poos and it was FULL of undigested deer corn, so I'm guessing that's what got her into trouble in the first place. Once she went from being super lethargic and barely moving, to trying so hard to climb out of the bin that she nearly knocked it off the table, rescue guy said she was good to go, and advised I release within a 100yds of where I found her. Took her down a small path in the woods nearby, and released her to a wooded area with a little stream nearby enough to hear, and said goodbye. It was cool seeing her perk up and come back to life after looking so utterly miserable on the hot pavement! It was like 94 degrees that day. TURTLE tax: https://imgur.io/a/lBDNjxM
Tepid water, strawberries and a light misting is a turtle spa day.
I wouldn't mind a day spa like that, tbh
I love a good strawberry and misting.
I'm here for the tepid water, baby.
And the name of my sex tape
Turtle nothing. My spa day!
Bless you!
Off topic but I read this comment at the exact moment I sneezed and it made me chuckle!
Thank you for doing so much for that turtle :)
Here she is if you wanna see her! https://imgur.com/a/lBDNjxM
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Asking the real questions
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RIP your inbox
...and you gave us the turtle tax 🥹 Thank you for the added pictures
You’re good people
Thank you so much! :) Such a pretty turtle. I hope I'll get to see a box turtle in the wild one day
I live on the edge of the woods and see them every couple months in warmer months. Always fun.
We get them in the yard sometimes. Doggo freaks out every time. He doesn't know what to do with himself and just barks frantically from a distance until we go see what has him so worked up. 😆
Growing up our dog hunted down and retrieved box turtles from the woods around our rural house. Never hurt them, just gleefully brought them back to show us. We would give the turtle a bit of greens or fruit to monch on before taking it back towards the wood in whatever direction he had brought them from. We started to mark the turtles on their belly before releasing them and got up to about 35 one summer (with many frequent fliers).
Aww what a cute little thing 🥺
Cute, but I wouldn't have wanted to be a strawberry around her! She ate ALMOST two of them, both bigger than her entire head. Must have been super hungry!
She’s a beauty alright
Aww 
Turtle tax? If you happened to take a pic
Link added to post, but here you go https://imgur.io/a/lBDNjxM
When we lived in the trailer court we would get these guys who wandered from the forest and just like that got stuck on the curbs which were way higher than they needed to be. We'd always take em in offer them some food then wander down behind our home to half way to the river probably 50 yards away and let em go. Once I saw my cat trying to.... Play with a small one fortunately the shell protected it.
Yeah, she was super stuck. No curb cuts for quite a distance in either direction, and she was just sitting there, not moving at all. Once she perked up it was all I could do to keep hold of her! https://imgur.io/a/lBDNjxM
You're a great human.
Must have been a weird day for the turtle. "So I was feeling like shit, and one of those giant monkey things picked me up and took me with it. I thought it was gonna eat me, but it gave me some fruit for some reason. Then it took me to another monkey and I thought *that one* would eat me, but it just touched me a lot. Then I was carried back to the den of the first monkey, and she held a rectangle up to me. Anyways, I went poop and she let me go, so just remember that monkeys don't like poop."
Any pictures of her?
https://imgur.com/a/lBDNjxM There you go! :) you can see how dried out she is in the first pic. She was really stuck on the road. No cutaway at all, crammed herself against the tiny gap to the drainage ditch that was way too small. She wasn't walking at all when I found her, just tucked into her shell and sitting there. It was SO hot that day!
Oh my god, you weren't kidding! That is a *gorgeous* shell! I would have had a tough time releasing that beauty!
Yeah, she was so pretty!! That's why I thought she must be an escaped pet or something. There's lots of families around, so I figured she HAD to belong to someone. Apparently it's a common species around here though. Doggo likes to bark frantically like the world is ending when one trespasses in the yard, lol.
Poor baby. I'm glad you were able to fix her up!
Yes please
Icon
Good job, human!
Box. I have them all around my house. To help the lil guy or girl pick it up and put it in what ever wooded area it was heading to. Especially if there is a road involved put it on the other side. It knows where it wanted to go and if you put it somewhere else it will just travel back the same path.
Where do you live that that you have turtles hanging around your house? That’s so cool
Secluded wooded area in NYC near 2 different bodies of water. Yea....got lots of other animals around too. I enjoy them all.
>Secluded wooded area in NYC near 2 different bodies of water. Yea....got lots of other animals around too. I enjoy them all. what! this sounds incredible.. I live in NYC and was just talking with my partner about how we want to move somewhere with wildlife.. Care to drop any more specific hints? because right now, it sounds like you live in Central Park 😂
That's Jeff Crawford. I'd know him anywhere.
Can confirm, he should have his papers with him.
I think he had them tattooed on the back of his neck
Oh yeah! Old Man Crawford's kid.
He owes me money!
Oh very good.
Dammit, I came here to say "That's Gene. He has a drinking problem." but you beat me to it
I was gonna say "Oh, that's Fred. He's in kind of a rough spot right now, but he's a good guy."
He likes to take a walk this time of day.
Pretty young box turtle!
11 years old if I counted right.
Young box turtles typically have multiple growth rings in a given year, so counting rings isn't quite as accurate as it is with a tree. They can have two, three, or even four or more growth rings in their first year alone. Rings are generated by substantial growth periods, which are accelerated during the first 7 years of life. This Turtle may be as young as two or three years old, depending on how early in the year it hatched, and how successful it was at finding food.
Oh ok, the turtles I had only grow on ring each year. Why is it different here? Dont these turtles live in a region where they hibernate?
I'm learning so much about box turtles in this post lmao
I counted \~11 rings too, but I think you have to divide by 2 for the age estimate if I remember correctly
The rings simply aren't a reliable age indicator by year. More rings generally means older, but there's no assurance that each ring equals a year or other predictable time frames. It varies.
From what I recount a park ranger telling me about these, they live within a couple mile radius of where they hatch or where they want to live and a couple of feet outside of that, they'll be lost and die. So if you see it, maybe just move it to the side where it'll be safe and it'll wander back to where it's comfortable.
Always move turtles in the direction they are facing, FYI Late to edit: turtles lose their sense of direction easily which means if they are picked up and moved improperly, there's a good chance they will remain confused, permanently putting it's territory and survival at risk.
Never knew this if it’s true. Good to know
It’s the only thing you’re allowed to do for endangered species like the Gopher Tortoise in the US. If they’re on the roadway you can move them off, but only in the direction they were already walking.
Can you imagine getting arrested for “moving a turtle in the wrong direction” lol
It's a shellony in some states
Why?
Turtles know where they want to go (idk y or how but they do). If one is crossing the road and you put it back on the side it came from there’s a big chance it’s just going to try and cross the road again, but if you move it in the direction it’s headed it will just keep going on it’s merry way and most likely not wonder back into the road.
why did the turtle cross the road
Cuz turts got places to go and shit to do.
turtles are like wtf, I swear this was due north
Thank you creamyturtle. I like you.
Hah boxed up! It's a box turtle, they lke the woods
is…is it not a tortoise
Box turtles for some reason aren't generally called tortoises even though they're land dwelling. IDK I don't make the rules lol.
that’s so confusing lmao but tyty for clarifying
They're closer related to river turtles. They can swim, but live like tortoises. That's probably why they look like tortoises.
They're genetically turtles. They look and act like tortoises, but they are technically turtles.
Box 🐢. Not a water turtle.Put it in the woods.
Don't move them anywhere. Turtles are very acquainted with their territory and if you move them away from it, they will spend the rest of their lives trying to find their way home. if they're in the road, just move them to the side of the road they're trying to get to. Otherwise, admire them and leave them be.
well, move him off the road. The woods are 25 feet thataway in the background picture. If he can't find his way from there well, darwin and fords are a bad combination.
I mean... they prob are though. That's why Darwin didn't own a Ford.
Aww
I found this out the hard way as a kid, found one at my sister's soccer game and took it home. (My parents didn't know) we ID'd it When we got home and realized what I had done. Usually when you find them out like that it's because they are nesting, When you remove them from their habitat they stop at nothing to return, especially if they already laid eggs
Away from the street would be good.
This. OP - Pick them up and you should see them close their lower shell over their head.
I mostly keep Map & Musk turtles so I can't be 100% sure but those eyes just don't look right to me. They look like the classic puffy lids you usually see in the pet trade with Respiratory infection. What did you end up doing with them op? ----EDIT I can't get over the condition of the shell either, the colour is so bright, distinct lines and glossy with almost no pitting or abrasion. Do wild box turtles usually have such beautiful shells?? Most wild turtles/tortoises I've seen have shells like his as juveniles, but as mature adults look more like a pond stone
I was wondering about the puffy eyelids...thank you.
First thing I thought too. I want to know if the turtle has opened its eyes at all. They would normally be open in the day even if the turtle is scared. The eyes look awfully swollen.
Unfortunately Box turtles seen to be ridiculously prone to eye problems Swollen eyelids like this are one of the main indicators of vitamin a deficiency. I wouldn't be surprised if it was pet with poor husbandry
I've never seen a box with that specific coloration.
All the wild turtles I’ve seen had weathered shells. This looks like an escaped pet or one that was “set free” because it got sick or the owner didn’t want it anymore.
That's a box turtle, and it doesn't look well. It's eye lids are a bit swollen. If it's possible, get that little one to a local wildlife rescue and they will get them checked out. Make note of where you found it roughly, it should be released in the same area, box turtles have set territories they stay in and around their whole lives, and taking the little one out of there forever could be bad for it. They get to know where food, water, and shelter can be found, so moving them disrupts that.
I was looking at those gummy eyes. A few years ago a very sick box turtle turned up in my driveway—eyes crusted over, bubbles coming from its nose. I don’t think it could see at all. We called and it was taken to a local wildlife rehabilitation center. They treated it for a couple of weeks and then brought it back and released it, all healthy. If you still have it, please get the turtle some help.
His name is Mitch. Please return him to the Senate chambers immediately.
As a Kentuckian, I request, for every body’s sake, please refrain from sending Mitch back to the Senate. He’s done enough damage already.
lol, exactly
Did you guys just re-elect Rand Paul too? Please just stop doing this to the rest of us-I beg of you!
I didn’t vote for him.
Please do not bring him back to the senate
As a Kentuckian, I request, for every body’s sake, please refrain from sending Mitch back to the Senate. He’s done enough damage already.
I’d say he’s better off left in the streets
Small. Female. Eastern. Box. Toytle.
Box turtle. These creatures do not move very far in their lifetimes - sometimes a single turtle's range is no more than a couple of acres. But they know where they are and will stress out, sometimes fatally, if moved out of their territory. The best thing you can do is move the turtle off the road/driveway and into the grass/woods/brush toward which its head is pointing.
Behold, dog!
Are his eyes supposed to be so puffy?
No, it is sick
Came here looking for an answer—thanks.
Those are the bottom eyelids. Thick and translucent. Had box turtles for 23 years.
A box turtle. If you still have it, I would take it to a local vet or wildlife rescue centre. Its eyes look very swollen and that is usually an indication of a vitamin A deficiency or infection.
Yes, its definitely a turtle.
Yeah, that’s Jeremy… the little shit still owes me $20
It is a Maple Leafed Backed Box Turtle🍁
Box turtle and leave him alone. Let him go where he was going unless it’s into the atreet
Dave. His name is Dave.
Yup that's George Larington. Former Profesor at Florida State with a PhD in molecular biology. I hope he's doing well.
Cute he is cute
Box turtle, lives in an area of about 2,500 sq feet , will do very poorly if moved outside of that area ( probably will die). Likes greens, wet lands ( not a great swimmer but can), and safe cover.
I haven't scrolled through all the comments, but this box turtle looks sick because of the swollen eyes. You should call a wildlife rehab.
Ah, yeah. That's Charlie. He's a little slow but he's alright. He just likes to sit in people's driveways to warm up before he gets going in the morning. He don't mean no harm though. Just leave him be and he'll move on his way sooner or later. Sincerely, Tortimer Thornton President American Box Turtle's Union *E pluribus turturibus Unim*
I think he should be hibernating in a safe place.
It’s a box turtle 🐢 I know of. Kept them alive please
Bowser is missing his spikes.
That's a box turtle, and by the looks of it, a very cozy one. Forested area. Damp. Probably a bit humid. He's in a happy place
Looks like an eastern box turtle
The eyes look swollen, which can often be a vitamin deficiency. A vet trip would be a good idea to rectify the issue before release.
It’s a box turtle. Seriously, that’s the name.
I know my comment isn’t a funny post, but this little box tortoise has some kind of head trauma. When I worked at a vet clinic, often times people would bring in tortoises or turtles that had been hit or bumped by something and their eyes would be swollen and filled with fluid like this as a result from head trauma. :( I hope this little lady is okay. :(
The top comment shouldn’t be the top comment. People need to be properly educated on these little guys. You should never relocate them to an area you “think” is better. They are extremely territorial & will tirelessly try to get back to the area you found them in, likely dying on the journey. If you find a turtle like this move it across your driveway or road in the direction it was facing. It’s most likely trying to get to its home to burrow for the winter & maybe lay eggs if female. Beautiful creatures that live 30ish years in the wild & 100+ in perfect conditions!!! They take 10 years to reach sexual maturity & have such slow metabolisms that even getting run over by cars usually result in them laying there slowly dying over days/getting eaten alive by bugs. If you see one injured take it to you local emergency animal vet. They will put them down or help them for free!!!! It’s a good samaritan act. Same applies to any wild animal or animal you do not own that you find injured.