The Box Turtle - Male or Female?

It’s been a while. After several weeks of not walking, to starting to walk again around the block a few times - it was time to see what was happening in the park. We waited a couple of days for the grounds to dry out after the deluge last week. The park is a longer path and we wanted to get back to our two mile hike per day. It also has the shade for hot spring/summer days. With our masks on, we headed over this morning hoping the number of pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists was at a minimum. It was a gorgeous day and everything was very green and overgrown. We heard a lot of birds - woodpecker, cardinals - but didn’t see them. It’s always more relaxing walking on the paths rather than the concrete sidewalks in the neighborhood; however, it’s not as easy to dodge the bypassers - especially the many who refuse to wear masks. All of a sudden in front of us was a good sized turtle - something we haven’t seen before on the walk. It was off to the side, but obviously on the path. It immediately pulled in its arms and legs, and soon after, the head to “hide” from us. We both hoped no one would bother it and it was gone when we returned to the same spot on the way back. We also saw what looked like a leaf, but it jumped from the path to the woods. It was a little sand colored toad or frog. It moved too quickly to get a photo. Then there was the discreetly placed stuffed animal tucked behind some branches. Some poor soul is missing a prized possession. It felt good to be out and about on this beautiful day. It felt more “normal,” but not quite yet. When we got home I looked up box turtles and that’s what it was. They can live to fifty years and supposedly it’s easy to tell the gender. Since we didn’t see the underbelly you need to catch the eye color. I think it’s a female but I’m not sure.