Thanks for caring for turtles. Please put it back in the same location just a little ways off the road. Whatever direction it was facing when you encountered it, that’s the direction it was heading so you can put it on the other side of the road if it was attempting to cross. Females this time of year are often moving to lay eggs (or returning from laying eggs). If you translocate her, she will likely quickly start moving looking for something familiar, putting herself at much more risk crossing more roads and unfamiliar habitat.
Here is some information from a box turtle conservation website “Removing a wild box turtle from their home causes stress for them. Box turtles that were born in the wild and were later put into captivity tend to have a much shorter life span. Worse than this; some people take box turtles from their home, and then release them elsewhere into the wild. Box turtles will not simply settle down in a new location if moved. More often than not, they will wander aimlessly; hopelessly trying to fine their old home until they die. It’s not too uncommon for humans to take in box turtles for a few weeks, and then later decide to let them go. It’s best never to remove a box turtle from their home unless you have a good reason. And if you return them to the wild, it must be in the exact same spot you took them from." http://www.boxturtles.com/box-turtle-conservation/ <http://www.boxturtles.com/box-turtle-conservation/> There is plenty of scientific literature to support this, for example, Hester, J.M. 2008. Journal of Wildlife Management 72(3):772-777. https://doi.org/10.2193/2007-049 <https://doi.org/10.2193/2007-049> "To examine effects of relocation on eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina), we compared home ranges and movement patterns of 10 resident and 10 relocated box turtles in Davidson, North Carolina, USA. Home ranges of relocated turtles were approximately 3 times larger than those of resident turtles when measured by minimum convex polygons, 6 times larger than resident turtles when measured with 95% kernels and 7.5 times larger than resident turtles when measured by 50% kernels. Relocated turtles also moved a greater average distance per day than resident turtles. Additionally, 5 relocated turtles experienced mortality or disappearance compared to no mortality or disappearance of resident turtles. Our results raise questions about the success of relocation as a management strategy for eastern box turtles.” As usual, interfering as little as possible is the best policy although of course taking turtles off of roadways, if you can do so without risking your own safety, is very helpful. Thank you for taking care of them! =c Carola A. Haas Professor, Wildlife Ecology Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Conservation 112 Cheatham Hall (MC 0321) 310 West Campus Drive, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24061 cah...@vt.edu 540-231-9269 http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/haas.htm <http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/haas.htm> > On Jun 15, 2018, at 4:06 PM, John A. <omnipithe...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > I’d like to request advice on the best options for relocating a box turtle > that I rescued from the edge of a busy road this morning. > > In particular, I’d like to know how territorial box turtles can be, and > whether a long-term resident pair would be aggressive towards a new arrival. > My own backyard seems to be good box turtle habitat, since I have a male and > female (recognizable from unique shell markings) which I’ve seen frequently > over the past ten years. > > That suggests the habitat is suitable, but I’m not sure if the resident > male and female would behave aggressively towards the female I rescued this > morning. I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience with box > turtles, or who could recommend someone I could contact for information and > advice. My thanks in advance for all constructive replies. > > > - J. A.
