An Eastern Box Turtle among a flurry of autumn leaves...

Thursday afternoon found me along the Little Miami Bike Trail. Trees were dripping with water from an earlier shower, and the pavement was wet. Each gust of wind that raced through the branches brought down a flurry of golden-colored leaves, and the crisp energy of Autumn danced everywhere...

Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina

Amid the tumult and excitement of our first "autumn-y" day, this male boxer lumbered across the paved bike trail oblivious to the dangers around him. When I spotted him I said, "Hurry up little guy. A biker isn't going to see you hidden in these leaves!" I barely saw him, and I was walking slowly, limping along with my flat-tire of an ankle. He was partially obscured by one of the recent leaf flurries, and although he seemed to feel secure, he was a disaster in the making--for himself and any biker who ran over him!

When I picked him up and moved him to the woods on the other side of the trail, he pulled back into his shell and partially closed his hinged plastron (lower shell). This defensive move is how he got his name. A simple "Boo!" on my part would probably have been enough to make him completely draw up the hinged parts of his plastron and securely "box" himself in.

...leaves scattered across the Little Miami Bike trail blended with the boxer's shell and hid him from view.

The carapace (upper shell) of an Eastern Box Turtle exhibits classic camouflage patterns...cryptic (invisibility by blending in), disruptive razzle-dazzle (eye-catching colors that confuse size, shape and number of objects in a group), and even countershading (lighter colors that appear in normally darker areas and vice-versa, distorting depth perception). Click here for a Wikipedia entry on the theory of camouflage.

...stay safe boxer man!

A box turtle is always a surprise!

...continued from Thursday's walk along the Little Miami River when a fawn was watching me.
Off the trail….about 20 ft into the shadows, a box turtle sat motionless on the hillside beside a steep drop-off to the creek. Surprised I could see something so small from such a distance, especially since he was tucked among green shoots and dark, rotting leaves, my heart jumped! Box turtles are such special creatures. Just looking at them sparks our imaginations and connects us to their prehistoric past, and we can’t help but feel some of their ancient ways seeping from their armored shells, plated legs, and wary eyes...

An eastern box turtle (Terrepenne carolina carolina)

is hidden among leaves and dark detritus.

The box turtle is so named because his plastron

(lower shell) is hinged, and both the front and back

portions can be pulled up tightly against his carapace

(upper shell), encasing him in a protective "box."

The box turtle's slow and gentle nature invites study.

If you are quiet and unobtrusive, boxers will sit

willingly without closing up in their shells, eventually

lumbering away when they are sure you are not a threat.