We acquired most of our turtles from our brother-in-law, Hutch. He's a little dyslexic. Cathy told him she wanted a box turtle. He brought down a box OF turtles. Oh well, they were rejects from his business, so we sorta rescued them. I turtle-proofed our yard by placing barriers beneath the fences. Turtles can dig very well and deep. We've never had an escape under the fence. We've had them now for about six or seven years. The group photo below was taken during the spring round up. We were trying to fatten them up after a long winter's hibernation. Junior's the one at 12 o'clock in this group feeding frenzy, with One Eye, Big Mama, and Buster joining in, as you go around clockwise.

The box turtles we have are of two subspecies: Three-toed and Eastern. The Easterns are from the east. Duh. That's probably why they call them Easterns. The Three-toes are from the mid south, primarily Arkansas and Louisiana. I think Hutch gets his Easterns from Tennessee. I've never counted their toes, but the Three-toes tend to be more grayish, while the Easterns are darker and more mottled. We also had one Ornate Box Turtle, Queenie, a western species, but she climbed a plank and got away. We've had a couple batches of youngsters over the years.

Our first batch of youngsters were apparently abducted by raccoons. It's a shame, because they were 3 years old and ready to be released into the yard,. The second batch just hatched (October 2000). I've got some cute pictures of them. We've got them in a little terrarium for now.

Our oldest turtle is named Big Mama. She's a Three-toe that's probably as old as we are or older. She is the only egg layer we're aware of. Click on her picture to go to Big Mama's page.

The boldest turtle is Buster. He's also the largest. He's a very colorful Eastern. He has a chipped shell. Click on Buster to go to Buster's page.

Little Feller's called Little Feller because, well, he is a little feller. That doesn't stop him from turtling up with Big Mama. We figure he's the main culprit for making new turtles. He's a male Three-toe, I think. Click on him to go to his page.

We call her One Eye because, you guessed it, she's only got one eye. One Eye is a female Three-toe. She hasn't laid any eggs that we know of, but that doesn't mean much, because One Eye is very secretive and shy. Click on her to see her page.

Junior is pretty secretive and elusive. I probably see less of him than any other of the herd. Junior is an Eastern Box Turtle, not quite as big as Buster, hence the name. Click on Junior to go to his page.

Newley got lost. Someone found him. He ended up at the Poway Large Animal Rescue facility. Not being a large animule, they gave him to Cathy. He's a pretty active turtle and not particularly shy, but he disappears sometimes. I'll get his picture and get it on his homepage. I think Newly's an Eastern.

In the 3rd week of October 2000, the latest additions to the herd made their debut. We knew Mama laid eggs by the old persimmon tree and have been waiting for them to hatch. We've found two to date (10/28). They're cuter than the dickens. Click on Numero Uno to go to the Baby Page. Enter Cathy's Name-the-Turtle contest if you dare!

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