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| Not quite on forum topic... I have found 4 box turtles in my back yard in the last 2 days. First time in the 22 years I've lived here. Found them when my dog started barking at them. Moved them to a neighbor's fenced back yard (house is vacant so no predators). Any ideas why this sudden influx? |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Mon, Aug 13, 12 at 11:37
| They have just migrated into your area. Box Turtles are pretty docile creatures and are no threat to your yard. What attracts them is a source of water and food. Box Turtles will eat anything. When they are young they prefer insects such as caterpillars, slow-moving beetles, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs, slugs and snails. They also will eat road kill, small rodents such as mice, voles or shrews, baby birds, snakes, lizards and eggs. As they get older, they will add more plant material to their diet such as roots and berries. They also need a source of water for drinking and laying eggs in moist sand. They are entrenched creatures and are adapted to the area in which they are born, and removing them even a half mile from their territory will mean that the turtle is then unlikely to survive. If you move them they will try to come back and die trying if they fail. |
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| I hated to move them (already knowing they have such a small home range) but I was afraid my jack russell terrier would kill them. The neighbor's yard, while vacant, has a fish pond and is very similar to my back yard. My other neighbor does not have dogs but her yard is not completely fenced in. I was just curious about why they suddenly liked my back yard that is usually full of dogs. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Mon, Aug 13, 12 at 23:13
| I really do not think moving them next door is going to do them in. They might come back, but just keep moving them back they should adapt well and become someone else problem. |
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