Workshop Turtle

July 27, 2003

The turtle we saw back on July 5th has returned.  Casey was barking and trying her best to get under fence to play with the Workshop Turtle, but I rescued him ... again !  The fascinating thing about today's visit is that we get to answer the question that has baffled scientists for centuries .... "When turtles fall, do they close up inside their shell, or spread their legs and pretend they are skydiving ?"  Let's find out ...

Here we see the Workshop Turtle running toward what he believes is freedom  (is it a him or a her ?  I did not notice any external genitalia, so I guess I will have to surf the net to find out the answer to that question ! **) ... little does he know, but his path has been blocked by a 2 X 4.  And now the experiment begins ...

I thought I had blocked him in, but to my amazement he simply scaled the small wall I put in his path ... but he has a little trouble with it, as you will soon see ...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!  There he goes ... but at least we now know that turtles do NOT close up in their shell when they fall ... they seem to prefer to pretend they are skydiving !  Does this stop him ?  Of course not ...

You can tell he is really determined this time ... look at the expression on his face !  Over the top, and he will be on his way to freedom !

Here goes the Workshop Turtle ... hauling turtle butt before I can catch him again !  Notice the wind from his body bending the grass as he goes running by !  I will keep a check on the yard and see if he returns again ... stay tuned !

** Determining the sex of an Eastern Box Turtle

According to one web resource, "the head, neck, and legs of the box turtle are also brightly colored with yellow and orange, particularly in the males. Male box turtles usually have bright red or orange colored eyes while the eyes of the females are usually dark red or brown. Male box turtles also have a slight depression in the middle of their lower shells while that of the female's is flat."1  Now all I have to do is find him again and see if I can determine if the Workshop Turtle is male or female !

1 - Information from http://wildwnc.org/af/boxturtles.html