Tracking Time in the Shell of an Eastern Box Turtle

Written by Henry Myers, Director of Forest Education

Finding something that’s been at the Nature Center as long as I have usually means taking a trip to the old quarry. At least, that’s what I thought—until last week, when we made a discovery that both shocked and, in a strange way, comforted me.

Here’s the story. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a warm fall day (because that’s how all the old-timers start a story). I was with the oldest group of Schools-Out campers, hiking back to the nature center—on, of all things, the Turtle Trail—when we were stopped in our tracks. Just off the path was a bright yellow eastern box turtle, slowly making his way through the leaves. If he’d been still, his colors would have blended in perfectly with the forest floor, and we would have walked right past him.

The aformentioned sheet from our turtle tracking binder

When I picked him up, I noticed two small notches on his shell, these notches are man-made markings used to identify individual turtles.

Back at the Nature Center, I dusted off our old box turtle binder and found his folder. To my surprise, the first time this turtle was seen and notched was June 25 of, wait for it…1991! That’s right—he’s been roaming our trails for at least 34 years!

Here’s just a bit of what’s happened in the world since he’s been out there:

· The invention (and explosion) of the internet;

· The launch of the International Space Station;

· My first nature hike for preschoolers (who are now college graduates!) in 2006.

All the while, he’s been surviving and thriving on our 47 acres. Maybe it’s my forties making me sentimental, but there’s something heartwarming about knowing that the Nature Center has been a steady home for both of us all these years.

Pushing 40 and still looking good!