Operation turtle rescue had ended by November 2002. I had found six box turtles and been given a seventh from a different area. Three of these would have to stay indoors over the winter due to illness, injury or just underweight. The four healthy ones would remain outside, overwintering in the hibernaculum that we had made for them.
Now was the time to plan and build the full outdoor enclosure. The enclosure would have to have certain basic features for box turtle survival, and many other attributes for box turtle contentment. And the enclosure had to be as big as we could make it.
But first, PICTURES!
That is Ruby above, and this is Fannie:
And this is Hector:
And here are the three of them together:
L-R: Ruby, Fannie, and Hector.
Now back to business.
First on the list of enclosure features was safety. The enclosure would have to prevent escapes, deter potential predators, and provide a visual barrier so that the turtles would not constantly attempt escape. As I had mentioned in a previous diary, a box turtle that can see out of its enclosure will constantly try to get out. Box turtles are also talented diggers and climbers, so the barrier would have to extend below ground, and the above ground portion would have to be designed to foil climbing attempts.
We quickly settled on our side yard as the best location for the pen, as our streetcar suburb lot had an existing curb-like retaining wall. One side of the designated pen already had a privacy fence in place: so most of the construction would involve building an above ground barrier..
Interestingly enough, historically appropriate picket fence design offered a terrific solution to our fencing dilemma. Several surviving picket fences in our old neighborhood featured a solid panel base:
http://www.shorpy.com/...
Handyman husband was able to easily copy this design, so we had not only a barrier to keep many animals out, and the box turtles in, but we had the desired visual barrier at box turtle eye level, and due to the framing, a lip over which even the most athletic turtles could not climb. We also decided to loosen up the clay soil in most of the enclosure: we had a cubic yard or two of some ‘black gold’ composted leaf and mulch humus, which we tilled in to the clay to a depth of about 6 inches.
The next job was to plan out some basic necessary features.
The very basics are the following: shade and sun, cover and open nesting area, and a source of clean water.
This is what we started with:
As box turtles are ectotherms (a.k.a. ‘cold blooded’) they require habitat that allows them to regulate their body temperature to their satisfaction. As we had already been living in our house for a few years, I was familiar with which areas of the turtle pen would be sunnier, and which would be shady. The sunny areas were left open, and the shady areas were planted to provide even denser areas of shade. Certain plants were arranged in such a way to create visual barriers…interrupting lines of sight would keep the box turtles exploring, foraging, and would enable smaller individuals and females to hide from more aggressive mature males. Sections of hollow logs were strategically placed for the same purposes: cover, shade, and forage.
Cover and shade would be provided and multiple levels: there is a mature tree just outside the enclosure that provides high, light shade, and there were a couple of existing shrubs and a recently planted dogwood tree that provided some mid- to lower level shade, Hostas, liriope, patches of existing turf grass would all provide shade closer to the ground. As the seasons progressed, leaf litter would also provide a blanket for the box turtles to nestled under.
In addition to being a source of cover, plants and logs are also a source of food: beetles and grubs, worms, slugs and other backyard biota make their home in this environment.
One of the bigger challenges was water. We dug a hole near the center of the enclosure and created a small pond, using a heavy rubber liner and lava rock to add to the filtering power of the filter/pump. Even though the hole for the pond is nearly two feet deep, it is nearly filled with filtering rock so that the water depth only about 6 inches deep in the deep end.
The pond was designed for maximum water filtration and minimum danger. Box turtles are not particularly good swimmers, but they will spend lots of time in shallow water, especially in the heat of summer. It also had to be handicap-access because of Ruby, who was not full-grown, and is also missing a hind foot. The finished pond has gently sloping sides and flat, rough rocks that provide good solid traction for any box turtle entering or exiting the water. This pond design also provides clean drinking water, which is important of course, but what many may not know is that box turtles also use water sources as a toilet: for this reason we opted for a much more powerful pump/filter combination than might be necessary for a fish pond.
So, the pond was in place, the furniture had been strategically arranged, and we even had enough leaves to make a leaf pile.
We were ready for spring time.
This is what the habitat looked like after a few years: