Eastern Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

no photo — written note
photo: Wikimedia Commons
AnimalsSensitive species

A land turtle with a hinged shell it can close completely, patterned in orange and yellow on brown. Long-lived and deeply tied to one home patch.

Field facts
HabitatOpen woodland, old fields, woodland edges
RangeStatewide, commonest in the south
When to lookApril to October
StatusState species of special concern; declining (Indiana DNR / IUCN Red List)
Look-alikesBlanding's Turtle — aquatic, yellow throat

Field note: Individuals can live more than 60 years within a few acres.

Lesson
Watching responsibly

Never take one home. Moving a box turtle even a mile can leave it wandering until it dies.

This species is treated as sensitive: locations are generalised to county level and never routed to directly.

Your records

No sightings yet. Log one from the Observe tab to earn this stamp.

Log a sighting