A box turtle was on a path when Ann Berry Somers was a child. She looked into the reptile's eyes after picking it up. The turtle didn't retreat into its shell. She and the turtle were sharing something.
She says that she was enamored by the fact that she was able to touch them. It stuck with me because I was so amazed and grateful for that experience.
There are at least six different types of box turtles that make their homes across much of the U.S. The wrinkled denizens of the forest have historically provided E.T.-type experiences to children, with their bright eyes, colorful carapaces and calm demeanor. Some turtle fans worry that the special moments are becoming less frequent.
She is still very familiar with box turtles, like the one she found near her driveway. A man with a beat up shell lost a few toes on one foot and may have been eaten. The marks on the edge of the turtle's shell were unique and could end up being the biggest and most long term study of box turtles ever.
The goal of the Box Turtle Connection is to monitor thousands of box turtles for at least 100 years and eventually the work will have to be passed on to people who are currently children having their own formative moments with turtles. Dozens of volunteers have collected information on over 4,100 box turtles living on over 30 sites across North Carolina.
When she looked in its database, she could tell that her turtle had last been found in the exact same area. Box turtles can spend their entire lives in a few acres and it couldn't have been closer to where we found it. She was raised close to home.
I can't tell you how old the turtle is, but I am certain it is more than 20 years old. I wouldn't believe anything other than what they said.
The lines of growth on a turtle's shell are not as revealing as the growth on a tree is. It's possible to live a century. The turtle that was found in Long Island, NY in 2002 had markings on its shell that showed it had been captured in 1921.
The lifespan is similar to a human lifespan. It is possible for humans to live to be a hundred years old.
Box turtles are not suited for conditions.
The name of the turtle seems to suggest that it's widespread and doing well. According to herpetologist C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., the reality is that we don't know.
Turtles are in trouble all over the world. More than half of turtle species are at risk of extinction according to a global assessment.
They want to know if the box turtle is doing well. They think a long-term study over a variety of habitats is the best way to find out.
They don't try to get people to volunteer, but wait for people to hear about it and show up. She thinks that's the best way to get people to stay with it for the long haul.
"I said, 'Well, you have to make a long-term commitment,' and they said, 'Well, how long?'" It would be nice to have a lifetime.
From lawnmowers to criminal syndicates.
Box turtles are at risk. Cars and lawn mower are killers. Bulldozers have turned forest and meadow into houses and roads. Turtle experts are concerned about the potential for mass die-offs from emerging infectious diseases.
Box turtles are picked up and stolen a lot. The charismatic reptiles go for a lot of money. A man in North Carolina pled guilty to gathering and selling at least 722 box turtles and 125 other turtles for an estimated $121,000.
There have been studies of box turtles for many years. The studies looked at a single wildlife refuge, which may not reflect broader trends. Dodd says that no one has been paying attention to the turtles.
He applauds North Carolina's effort to take a century-long look, even if the data will be a little messy. Rather than relying on one standard method to find turtles, some volunteers use trained dogs, others do methodical surveys, and some just log information on box turtles that they come across by chance It's not easy to get the total amount of time spent looking for turtles.
"No study is going to be perfect over that period of time that's necessary, or that area that needs to be covered," said Dodd, noting that short-term studies just don't cut it for box turtles.
Dodd still doesn't know much about box turtles. He found a box turtle in his yard.
I've lived in my house for over three decades. He's never seen a box turtle before. We don't know how many other people are walking around in our area.
The interactions are powerful.
John found 8 box turtles in the rain. He's been able to see them despite their ability to blend in with the yellow and brown leaves on the forest floor.
"There's certain turtles that I encounter frequently enough that I get to know them." Sometimes I'll see a turtle and I'll know who it is.
The turtles aren't the only ones. "They're climbing on top of one another, they're turning each other over onto their backs, and then they're biting, they're scratching, and they're taking chunks out of each other's shells at times," he said. It's pretty strong.
He and a few students spread out and began to walk through the trees. The location of the site is not wanted to be revealed for fear of attracting traffickers.
"You have a lot of mushrooms growing, and that's one of their preferred food items, because of the recent rain." They should be on the move.
He sees a small one that looks like a man. "It has a more colorful head, and you can see a little bit more of a reddish eye."
The notches on its shell show that it has been captured before. He says that the turtle should be at least 15 years old since it was first captured.
This is the turtle's third meeting with researchers and it continues to follow the same protocols. They record the turtle's location, weigh it, check for signs of disease or damage, and take a picture.
When he first heard about the plans for a century-long study, he was skeptical. He doubts how long it will last. He saw their enthusiasm at the first training meeting. That made me think differently. I thought that this project could succeed. He wears a shirt with the project's logo and the caption, "10 down, 90 to go."
The first ten years of the study show that the box turtle populations in North Carolina are holding their own.
There wasn't a consistent trend at any site of growth or decline from the beginning of the study. The good news is that everything was stable.
A turtle's lifespan isn't that long. We don't know how many losses occurred before the study started. Many of the study's sites are in state parks, which could give these turtles a certain amount of protection that other turtles don't.
There can be sudden disappearance of apparent stability. The box turtle population at a wildlife refuge in Florida dwindled to almost nothing after a fire.
The density of box turtles was found to be lower in places with more urban development.
The turtles don't know where the borders are. They cross over them and get themselves into threatening situations like walking into people's backyards.
Follow the sound of the sound waves.
Trudie Henninger is the education outreach manager at the North Carolina Arboretum. We can follow the sound of the turtle with this.
The study's box turtles have radio transmitters stuck to their shells so researchers can track their movements more closely and learn how the turtles use their home base over time.
One turtle here, for example, likes to hang out in the gardens but treks down to the boggy areas of the preserve each summer.
One of the things that this long-term study has made clear is the importance of wetlands. The densities of box turtles were lower in areas that didn't have access to water.
People don't think about them being in wetlands or on the edge of rivers. I've seen box turtles congregate on the edge of a large river. They are found down in little streams. The water component is important to me.
Box turtles have to develop a kind of inner map of important resources like water and seasonal food because they can spend decades wandering in a home area that's usually only 2.5 to 12.5 acres. It's not a good idea to pick a turtle up and move it somewhere else.
She says that it needs to be left where it is, even though it may not be the best place for it. It can be very difficult for them to get back to where they came from.
Box turtles can heal themselves even if they are sick or injured. Brian is an educational specialist with North Carolina State Parks.
If a box turtle is spotted as it tries to cross a road, that's the exception. Helping it across the road can keep it from getting killed.
The person says to look at which way it is facing. It wants to go that way.
The arboretum has areas with tall grasses. A female box turtle with an antenna stuck up from her shell is found by a man in the grass.
"I like to look at a turtle and imagine the wisdom it has of this place that I might be passing through, and I have a turtle tattooed on my arm," she said.
The first time this turtle was captured, it was in 2013). The turtle's appearance suggests it is at least 25 years old.
A group of children go past the turtle's hiding place.
Several kids say "Yes!" when asked if they like turtles.
"Say 'I like turtles' on the count of three," says Bockhahn. The kids love turtles.
One of them could become a volunteer for the Box Turtle Connection project, which is 86 years away.
Maybe one of them will live long enough to see the opening of a time capsule in 2128. They are going to build it in a park. There will be two metal canisters in the stone rectangle shown in the plans.
The inscription on the plaque reads "Dedicated to the Box Turtle Connection project leaders, past, present, and future."
The capsule will contain letters from current volunteers to future ones, but not much else. She will write her note soon.
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