Eastern Box Turtle by Leeco
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Description
Nikon 7900 image.
Well the reaction to my snake postings was indicative of the common dislike a lot of people have toward these reptiles. It is a shame since the vast majority of snakes pose no danger to people or pets. They provide some degree of rodent control and are as much a link in the chain of life as any other.
Tonight I am posting another photo of a critter I came upon while mowing recently. It is another reptile but this one has no teeth and scares almost no one lol. There was a time when Box turtles were a very common sight as they crossed local rural roads but that is not true anymore. For whatever reasons, I seldom see them anywhere these days. The same is true of many reptiles like green grass snakes, leopard frogs, horned toads, scaly fence lizards, and broad headed skinks; just to name a few. Reptiles are not the only disappearing species. I seldom see cotton tail rabbits, lightning bugs, river otters, or bobcats any more either; a sad reminder that change is upon us and things that once were - will be no more.
The Eastern Box Turtle was essentially eliminated from large areas of the American North East by local Indian tribes before white men ever settled there. They were valued for their meat even though many people died from this practice because these turtles not only eat worms and slugs, but also mushrooms that are poisonous to people. If their habitat is left undisturbed, an Eastern Box Turtle will still stay within an area no larger than a football field for its entire life and that can be over 100 years.
I remember our yearly visits to my grandparents in Arkansas when I was a child and one of the first things I would ask about when we got there, was whether or not
Comments (11)
6T6
I like your commentary as much as the photograph. Turtles are fscinating creatures. I hope there never comes a day when the only place we can see this kind of creature will be in a photograph!
babuci
Excelent capture and liked a story about a "family pet" turtle.
PeeWee05
WOW!!! Look at that eye! Amazing red!
kimariehere
nice write up about the innocent and beautiful creatures!! and incredible turtle shot here love the pose of his head tilted upward!!..
jared99
Fantastic portrait!
TomDart
Well done! This face could compete for beauty with the wild turkey in my gallery..but the turkey is facing away. Excellent shot. I will look at any and all snakes you might photograph..and turtles. This does bring memories back to me from years of loving to find one of these creatures.
rayburg
Is there a rabbit in the background trying to catch up? lol...great close-up work on this speedy creature. I guess you used your action setting to get a good stop motion shot...lol Great capture my friend.
jcv2
Lovely capture of this turtle looking up to you while posing! Terrific work, Lee, love it!
redchilicat
Looks like he is smiling for you :-) Beautiful portrait of him. I will have to look at your snake shots, they don't scare me. It really is sad how so much habitat for these creatures is being lost. Here in Florida we have the gopher tortoise and I often see them run over or see places where they live being cleared to shoehorn a bunch of houses on. They are such gentle creatures :-( At least they can live in safely on my little 100 acres of Florida.
Inspyred
WONDERFUL! Great image, interesting compentary, super clarity!
Chaos911
:) this shot is sooo cool, excellently done!!!!