Turtles? In the Garden

From In the Garden

We had a nice visitor here at Tiger Gardens recently, a turtle. Usually box turtles are the only type of turtles that show up around here so seeing this different type of turtle was a nice change. The Jimster and my neighbor's children sure enjoyed seeing it. I initially thought it was a snapping turtle but have since read that snapping turtles cannot withdraw its head completely into its shell. This turtle can withdraw its head completely so I tried to find out if it is another type of turtle to no avail. Does anyone have a good identification on this turtle? I'm pretty sure it is not a box turtle due to its shell not being able to close up, but it is possible it is a box turtle if as they age their shells do not close up? Please help if you know my mystery turtle's identity!

This guy was actually crossing the state highway in front of my home when a nice lady in a car stopped to make sure it crossed safely. She was a rarity though and I wish more were like her so that fewer turtles and animals would perish in our roadways.

From In the Garden

The toenails of this turtle were quite interesting. We know from our experiences in the past that turtles eat worms and slugs and other small things in the soil. They obviously dig to get these critters and wow-they can be diggers indeed. I'd love to have some turtles take up permanent residence at Tiger Gardens but with the dogs and the lure of greener pastures behind our property all our turtles soon move on...

in the garden....

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In the Garden