COMMENTARY BY DR. DAVE SAMUEL
Box turtles are neat creatures, and most kids who spend time in the woods have probably seen one. Growing up, I remember finding box turtles, watched them slowly move along and wondered how far they moved in their life span.
Adults also spot them, pulling into their shells as they try to cross a paved road. Amazingly, lots of folks will stop their cars and give the box turtle some help in getting safely across the road. I’ve always done that. I’ve even gone so far as to turn around, go back and help that little turtle make a safe passage. Let me add here that when you do spot one on the road, move it to the side of the road in the direction it was going. They are sensitive to new environments and know where they are trying to go.
Seeing box turtles on the road used to be a fairly common occurrence, but not so much now. That’s because there are fewer box turtles out there. There are several reasons why we have fewer box turtles everywhere in the United States. Habitat loss, keeping them as pets, road kills and poaching all are causes for this decline. Actually, I believe poaching them to sell is probably their biggest problem.
Box turtles live on the edges of forests and in fields, they love warmer weather and they hibernate in winter. After a good spring rain, they emerge from the mud and begin to move around. That’s when they are vulnerable to road kill and poachers stealing them from our forests.
They start to breed at 10 years of age and may live 80-90 years. In fact, one was recorded at 136 years of age. The female can lay up to four eggs twice a year, but once laid, the adults never return to the nest. The young hatch and are on their own, so many die. Few live to be adults, and that’s why poaching them is devastating.
Turtles (or tortoises, the difference we’ll leave to a future column) have always been a favored garden pet in Europe. Mediterranean tortoises used to be the prize in northern Europe, so much so that sale of them was banned in 1984. When that happened, wildlife dealers turned to our box turtles for international sale. Trade grew quickly, so all states except South Carolina have banned the sale of box turtles (and many other species of turtles).
Once captured, they are crudely packaged in large numbers and shipped. Many die in the process. And once placed in a European home owner’s garden, they don’t do well because of colder climate). One 1990’s article I found stated they were selling them for $50-60 in European pet stores. During that same time period, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that 25,000-30,000 box turtles a year were sold internationally. That wasn’t, and isn’t sustainable. Even though illegal, many thousands of box turtles are still being captured and sold in the United States. If this continues, we may lose them.
We do have poachers stealing box turtles here in West Virginia, but I only found one reference to an arrest, though I know they occur. In 2013, a Ravenswood man was indicted by a federal grand jury for selling box turtles. He apparently sold 12 box turtles for $18 each to an undercover law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania, then later sold 28 more to that same officer. He shipped those in socks placed in boxes with a few air holes. Half died before they got to Pennsylvania. In another incident, one man in Maryland was caught with over 1,000 box turtles.
There are two things going on now in West Virginia to help box turtles. Kevin Oxenrider, the DNR amphibian and reptile project leader (yes, we have a person in charge of amphibians and reptiles) initiated a citizen project asking anyone who finds a box turtle to report its location. You can do that by using geographic coordinates on DNR’s map at tinyurl.com/wvboxturtle. Submitting a photo of the turtle is encouraged. People can use the Survey 123 mobile app to provide the same information and upload photos. It’s illegal to pick up and move turtles to another area, so just record the information and take a photo. No information or your name will be shared with anyone.
A second initiative is extremely important and worth your support. As I write this column, DNR officials are considering a regulation making it illegal to take home a box turtle. If approved in 2021, it would be illegal to pick up and take home 17 reptile and amphibian species, including Eastern box turtles, timber rattlesnakes, Eastern hog-nosed snakes, smooth greensnakes, Northern rough greensnakes and red cornsnakes. Under current law, one can keep four box turtles, but this new regulation would eliminate that option.
If we’ve learned anything during this COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that times are changing, and relative to that virus, they will never be the same. The same is true for our box turtles. Habitat is disappearing, the value as pets is going up, more urbanites here and in Europe want box turtles as pets, and their numbers are decreasing. The same losses are occurring for the snakes mentioned above. The state Natural Resource Commissioners are now considering this new regulation and should vote on that later this year. Hopefully, the vote will be in favor of the box turtle because it’s time for a change that will save box turtles in West Virginia.
Dr. Samuel is a retired wildlife professor from West Virginia University. His outdoor columns have appeared, and continue to appear, in Bowhunter magazine and the Whitetail Journal. If you have questions or comments on wildlife and conservation issues, email him at drdave4@comcast.net.
