Last summer we found an Eastern box turtle beside the creek that runs through our property. She had been severely injured by something (I suspect a fox, coyote, dog or possibly a raccoon) and was obviously in shock because she hardly reacted when I picked her up. One of her hind legs had been chewed off and the back part of her shell had places that had been chewed on as well.
I honestly thought she was going to die based on the condition we found her in. My kids wanted to bring her inside, but I explained to them that she was a wild turtle and would be very unhappy in a tank. We came back to the house and chopped up some berries and tofu to see if she would eat something. We also found some earthworms and snails to add to the mix. She immediately gobbled up the food we left, so we continued to bring food out to her 2-3 times a day. Often she would be out waiting for us and became quite tame, even taking food from our hands.
Eventually her injuries healed and she began going off for days at a time, showing up less and less for the food we still left out for her. I was really worried that since she was missing a hind leg she was going to have problems digging down in the dirt when it came time for her to hybernate. Because of this, we almost brought her inside, but once again I decided that she would be happier and better off in the wild.
A few weeks ago we were coming home from a trip to town, when we saw a box turtle crossing the road, right at the beginning of our property. We see this a lot, so I pulled over and got out to move it. Of course, any time I move a _____ (insert name of critter...turtle in this case) from the road, the kids have to get out of their seats and come out to hold said creature. Being on a quiet country lane, we get to do this quite often in the summer as snakes, turtles, toads and frogs come out on the road to warm up. As soon as I picked this turtle up, I wondered if it was our turtle. I looked her over and sure enough, it was Myrtle! She started to hide back in her shell, but then changed her mind (maybe remembered us?) and did the mid-air turtle crawl. She still had scars on her shell, but they were completely healed over and her hind leg, though now just a stump, looked great.
The pictures I have posted here are ones I took when we first found her last summer. It must have felt good to soak her injuries in the creek because that's where we would find for the first few days. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to get pictures of her when we found her crossing the road this summer.
This last picture (below) I took last week of a male Eastern box turtle out in our yard by the creek. Oddly enough, when I picked him up (good way to check the turtle's weight), he kept that front leg sticking out. I happened to notice a fresh injury along the bottom side of his shell, so it's possible he was unable to tuck that leg in. He was very healthy, good size and weight, and had no trouble moving that leg, so I put him back down where I found him and haven't seen him since. Ain't he a beauty, though?!
Here are some box turtle links:
Eastern Box Turtle
Box Turtle Fact Sheet
Box Turtle, Wikipedia
Eastern Box Turtle
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