Environment wkms.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wkms.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
7:15
Tracy Ross and John Pollpeter, lead naturalist at LBL s Woodland Nature Station, discuss box turtles.
Box turtles are common throughout the Land Between the Lakes area. The turtles have a growth pattern that s very similar to aquatic turtles, though they re mainly based on land, Pollpeter explains. They get the name box turtle because they can completely pull their entire body, head, tail, legs, and back legs into the shell and close it up behind them. The shell is kind of a dark brown with some light highlights with yellows, oranges, and lighter browns, he continues. It kind of looks like dappled sunlight through a forest floor. That s the easiest way to tell [box turtles] apart from [other turtles]. They also have a domed shell. That domed shell allows them to pull those body parts in. Most of the time, they re on land.