Remembering Missouri Box Turtles

One of the first signs of real summer is a flood of box turtles or terrapins migrating across the highways.  Many of them don’t manage to complete the migration, thanks to being run over by automobiles.  I wonder sometimes what they must think of the changes that have come to their ancient ways.

Image via Wikipedia

Terrapins was what we called them when I was a kid growing up.  As far as my family was concerned, turtles lived in water.  The large pond we referred to as the “Guv’mint” pond had a big snapping turtle that lived in it and helped eat the fish and frogs.  We always scouted around for him before swimming, since he wasn’t a bit shy about grabbing a bit of human if he had the chance.

Terrapins, or the little box turtles, were a lot friendlier.  We had a couple that were regular visitors to the garden (you could find them by the trail of munched tomatoes and melons, and one that hung around the house so much that she would allow humans to pick her up and pet her head.

One of my favorite summer amusements as a child was to collect a large number of these long-suffering reptiles and create a pen of boards.  In my child mind, I had visions of raising turtles.  This desire usually lasted about 24 hours; after which my grandmother would declare that if I wasn’t going to feed and water them–and SHE wasn’t going to provide eats for them out of the garden–then I had to let them go.  By that time, I would have thought of something different to do, so it was no hardship to let them wander away.

My grandmother knew that being penned up for a few hours with mushy tomatoes and culled apples wouldn’t hurt the terrapins, but prolonged captivity might.  Although she fussed about their depredations in the garden, I suspect she rather liked the l’il critters.  As I grew older, I frequently got the task of carrying one that the dogs were wooling around or hauling about in their mouths down to the edge of the wood, where, hopefully they could make good their escape.

The Missouri Conservation Department has a nice article on Missouri’s two box turtle species.  They point out that these ancient animals (Fossil records indicate they have been around for at least 2 million years) have relatively few enemies; the two greatest dangers to them are being crushed on the highways as they search for food or mates, or being kept in captivity by well-meaning humans who do not understand how to feed and care for them.  This video is published on their webpage:

Terrapins are one of the things I miss, living in town.  I won’t say in the city…the little burg I currently call home is pretty miniscule in size.  It surprises me, sometimes, just how sterile life can be in a human community.  To me, terrapins are homely creatures–like the whippoorwill in the trees, and the toad living under the porch.  I am glad to have experienced those things.  Perhaps, one day, I shall live with them again.