An Old Friend
Posted: March 20, 2023 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: backkyard critters, Box Turtles 19 Comments—————————-
It has been hard to find something to post on my blog as my plants are just beginning to come back after being frozen for the second year in a row.
This week I had my first turtle visit for this year.
I thought it was a new turtle I have never seen before, but when I enlarged the photos, the turtle was my old friend “Turtle with a Hole in its Shell”.
It is good to know my old turtle friend is doing fine and still hanging out here.
Wildlife Visits
Posted: September 28, 2022 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Armadillo, Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Copperhead Snake, Frog, Hummingbirds, My Kitchen Window, nature photography, subtropical climate 25 Comments
There have been several visitors to the garden recently. I found this box turtle crawling into a fallen container full of clay pot shards that I have been saving. I don’t know what the turtle was after and it sure looked uncomfortable.
I had my first sighting of a Cooperhead snake. Usually, I see them in the spring. And yes, I was handling the plant when I noticed something moving. As it was small I thought it was a lizard and not a baby Copperhead. I was lucky again and the snake went into the pot, curled up, and just stared at me.
Critter encounters that I could not photograph included being slapped in the shin by a Leopard Frog that was sitting in the grass, a sighting of a very long garden snake, an armadillo that I chased off my patio, and the weirdest wildlife situation I witnessed was a hummingbird stabbing another hummer in the breast while it was laying on its back on top of a plant. Can’t figure that one out.
Hello Turtle
Posted: July 18, 2022 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography 26 Comments
Hello again! I have seen this turtle last year in my yard. I can tell it is the same one because of the small hole in its shell.
I was surprised the turtle allowed me to have such a long photoshoot and I took quite a few pictures without it going into its shell. I think it remembered me and has probably been watching me all year.
Soon the turtle had enough and headed into a flower bed.
I hope that maybe the Box Turtle is a female a will lay some eggs.
Turtle Visit
Posted: August 23, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening 15 Comments
Box turtles continue to visit the Automatic Garden. I’m not totally sure why the turtles come, but it may be the leaf litter that I allow to gather under the trees and the fact that this is the highest land in the area. I found this one heading into one of my flower beds. I got a really good shot that showed a small round hole on the left side of the shell.
I had another run in with the same turtle, identified by the same hole in the shell, as it was heading down the driveway to the street.
I quickly grabbed some gloves and redirected the turtle.
And yet on another day I found it again.
This time the turtle was cooperative and posed for a picture.
Teenage Turtle
Posted: May 5, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography 14 Comments
My husband alerted me to a turtle heading down the driveway towards the street. Not a good plan. I ran out in my PJ’s to perform a turtle rescue.
This Box Turtle is bigger than the last little turtle I found, but not quite full grown. My kids joked that it was a Teenage Mutant Turtle, like the cartoon. I moved the turtle to the backyard and pointed it away from the street and said a another turtle prayer for a safe life.
Perfect Miniature Turtle
Posted: April 27, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography, Southern Gardening 20 Comments
I was walking across the yard in the grass, when I spied this baby turtle.
It is a perfect miniature of a Box Turtle.
Over the years, there has been several female turtles digging nests to lay eggs, but I’ve never seen a baby Box Turtle. The eggs and even the babies are often eaten by raccoons, which are prevalent in my yard. I once found a baby Red Slider turtle heading down the driveway on its journey to the nearby lake. But,this baby Box Turtle is just the cutest and I really wanted to keep it.
I did the right thing and released it in my wooded area with a prayer for a long life.
More Turtles
Posted: July 15, 2016 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Backyard Critters, Box Turtles, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography, Year-round gardening 5 Comments
There is something about my backyard that seems to attract turtles. These photos were taken several years ago of a pair of Box Turtles. Box Turtles have visited frequently. The turtles blend into the leaf debris and are hard to see.
Well, these two were definitely up to something. The smaller one with the bright orange head is a male. I once had a sighting of a female digging a hole to lay eggs, but she changed her mind. Many turtle eggs do not hatch because of predators eating them.
Take a look at this previous post of a Red Slider that showed up also.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 