First Scarback Sighting

Yes, yes....almost back-to-back posts on box turtles. But this is Old Scarback (called "Scratchy" by the children), who has been mentioned on these pages on many occasions. This was the first sighting of the season. I wish that I had recorded the first year that I observed him but I would estimate that it has been close to 15 years.

New Box Turtle

I spotted an eastern box turtle on our smallholding that I had never seen before. It was smaller than a full grown adult. He or she was very shy and would not take a peak and allow me to observe the eye color. The plastron showed no indentation, so perhaps it is a female.  

First Sign of Scarback

Just a place to document the first sighting of Old Scarback...our long-lived eastern box turtle.

Fence Lizard Part Deux

A month after seeing that early fence lizard, this one was seen sunning itself on the brick on the house. This one was closer to average size.

Early Fence Lizard

This was the earliest that I have ever observed a fence lizard. Also, one of the largest. A light coating of mud obscured its already subdued markings. It was lethargically warming its blood in the spring sunshine and not a bit interested in budging.

More Box Turtles

We certainly seem to get a lot of box turtle traffic. I like to document all sightings so as to distinguish those that live around my smallholding from those that are passing through.

This one was snuggling in some leaf litter in a vegetable garden bed.

A week later, this one was sighted out in the yard. This one has a similar pattern on the carapace but the plastron is clearly different.

Lonely Snake Egg

Another garden bed discovery. Whilst I was turning over the soil, this small soft egg appeared. It was alone when I spotted it and I did not find any companions. It is too small to be a box turtle egg and I do know that some snake eggs can be this size. I carefully moved it to a safe, nearby compost pile.

Update: I have determined that this is a skink egg.

Two for One

I spotted this young fowler's toad (Bufo fowleri) in the vegetable garden. I was surprised that he remained still sufficiently long so as to allow me to take a picture on a ruler.

Not but a few minutes later, I uncovered old Scarback in the same garden bed. He had buried himself under some mulched grass clippings.

Old Scarback

I was wonderng when old Scarback was going to show himself. My first sighting of the year. I normally see him a bit earlier in the spring, but it has been unseasonably cool this year. I was digging a hole in the perennial bed to plant an apple tree and there he was.

The Week of Box Turtles

I was heartented to see old Scarback. I had not seen him all summer and was concerned that maybe he was not able to find water during the severe drought. In fact, he was in the vicinity of our air conditioner when I spotted him, so when I released him, I placed him near the puddle of water that forms under the condensate drain.

Then, a few days later, I spotted another eastern box turtle that I had not seen before. The notch in the anterior marginal scute of his carapace will make it quite easy to re-identify him should he return.

Then, a few days later, a female showed up, and again, one that I had not seen before. Oddly, she also has some damage to the anteriror cervical and adjacent marginal scutes of her carapace that, in addition to her rather bright carapace markings, will make her easy to identify in the future.

Why did I see three turtles in the spand of one week? I do not know. It is too early for them to be searching for a place to hibernate. Perhaps it is drought related.

(Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus 1819)

Habits of the Box Tortoise by Alfred Goldsborough Mayer ~ Popular Science Monthly, November 1890

Baby Skink

The boys spotted this baby five-lined skink and were able to successfully capture him long enough for us to take a few pictures and then release him back into the ivy.

Road-crossing Kingsnake

I spotted this black kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus) on my afternoon constitutional. He was about 3-1/2 feet long and was looking for a place to cross the road. I used my walking stick to keep him at bay in the vegetation on the edge of the road in order to take a picture. He kept slithering further along the edge of the road and was quite intent on crossing. After 3 or 4 attempts to slow him down, he finally stopped long enough for this picture. Black kingsnakes are known to vibrate, hiss, and strike when cornered but this chap was not apparently annoyed sufficiently by my interruptions to his travels to do so. Right after I took the picture he scooted ahead of me and across the road. 

 

Scarback Sighting

This was the first sighting of Scarback, the eastern box turtle that has lived on our smallholding for at least 7 or 8 years. He was found buried in the side of a drainage ditch near the driveway. He appeared to be quite content, so we left him nestled in the muck to enjoy the last of the cool weather.

 

Morning Surprise

I was on my to get the newspaper in the morning and stumbled upon this fellow on the driveway. On this particular section of driveway, there are wooded areas on either side. He was apparently getting his blood moving from the residual warmth of the pavement as he moved from one wood to the other.


From the greenish yellow tint on the tip of his tail and his length (~18 inches), I could tell that he was a juvenile Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen). They are known to us their tail to lure prey such as frogs and insects. As they grow older, the tail darkens in color.


This is only the second time that I have seen one on our property. About 12 years ago, I spotted an adult, and again, it was on the driveway early in the morning. They generally prefer wooded areas where they remain fairly secretive, and we are not active in the woods during the summer due to the proliferation of Poison Ivy.