Box Turtle Habitat
The box turtle acquired its name from its ability to "box itself in" when danger presents itself. The box turtle possesses a bottom shell, known as the plastron, which has a sort of hinge in the middle. This hinge allows the shell to close up against the outer rim of the top shell. The turtle pulls in its head, legs and tail and is safe from whatever threatened it. The habitat of the box turtle varies with the subspecies.
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Eastern Range
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The box turtle with the largest geographical range in the nation is the eastern box turtle. Biologists divide this species into four subspecies. The Florida box turtle exists in the peninsula of that southern state. The Gulf Coast box turtle lives along the coastal region from Florida's panhandle westward to the eastern portion of Texas. The range of the three-toed box turtle extends southward from the northern part of Missouri into eastern Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It encompasses all of Arkansas and most of Louisiana, Mississippi and part of Alabama. The common box turtle lives from New England down the eastern seaboard to Florida and as far west as Illinois and upper Mississippi.
Western Range
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The western box turtle has just two subspecies. One is the desert box turtle that calls extreme west Texas, southern New Mexico and the southeastern corner of Arizona its home. The other, the ornate box turtle, has a much larger distribution. It lives from southern parts of South Dakota down through all of Nebraska, Kansas and most of Texas. It exists as far east as western Indiana and has a population in lower Michigan as well.
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Eastern Habitat
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The eastern box turtles are versatile in that they will inhabit many types of ecosystems. They live in woodlands, swamps and grassy meadows. The eastern box turtle's ideal habitat is a damp forest with access to lots of brush for cover. These turtles have the ability to swim and frequently go into the water when it is nearby. The typical eastern box turtle lives in a confined area, sometimes with as small as a 750-foot diameter.
Western Habitat
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The habitat of the ornate box turtle is the grassy prairies and plains of the states it lives in. It often will choose brushy thickets to stay in as it searches for food. The desert box turtle prefers a much more arid climate. It dwells in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Desert's scrubland, featuring open plains and sandy stretches.
Effects
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The box turtle is a reptile and, as such, is subject to the effects of extremes of temperature. It will avoid scorching heat by hiding under rotten logs, crawling under leaves for shade, digging into the mud or going down into the abandoned burrow of some other animal. In the cooler months, it will usually sit in the sun to warm up. In winter in the northern part of its range, the box turtle will hibernate by digging into loose earth in such spots as a burrow, an old stump hole or a muddy patch.
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