Our New Pet Turtle

The kids found a turtle in the woods behind our house while on a walk with Daddy. Chris brought it home to show me and reports that time slowed down as he was saying, "Hey, honey, look at this turtle," because he realized in that moment that I would be claiming this turtle as our new family pet and that Chris would be doing some kind of digging or manual labor to make an enclosure. It's like he really knows me after almost seven years of marriage!

 We believe this is a male Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina).

Full of excitement, we put the turtle in a temporary enclosure with some water and vegetables on which to snack, and I took the three kids to the hardware store to buy some wood. I had done some quick research online about a box turtle's habitat needs. (Above, the children covering their ears because of the circular saw.)

Margaret asleep during our outing

The finished enclosure is 4'x4' toward the rear of our back yard. (Behind the fence in the background is where the turtle was found.) Chris proved himself such a Good Daddy and Husband through this whole adventure: letting me dash off and buy lumber supplies, then interrupting his work day to drill and dig in the hot temperatures just so we could have the fun of observing a real live turtle.

I tried to replicate some of what the turtle would find in the woods. Those are hosta plants to provide him a hiding place. I covered the floor in leaf litter and threw down a couple of logs on which he can climb. I put in a glass dish of water (which I plan to replace with a little ceramic drain pan for a potted plant). We have approximately one zillion earthworms in our yard, so we already stocked some extras in his enclosure, although there are plenty in the soil too. I instructed the kids that now, every time they find a worm, they should run it over to the turtle. Apparently box turtles are omnivores, so also like vegetables, all insects, and even carrion.

I encourage my readers to help us name the turtle. John wants to name him Boxy. I am desiring to be a bit more creative than that. Is there a famous boxer? Is there a Catholic word that has to do with a box (poor box?)? What is 'box' in Latin? Is there a patron saint of boxes or turtles? Submit your ideas!