WOW!

Powdermill Nature Reserve

In the summer of 1967 eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) number 7 was marked at Powdermill Nature Reserve. The turtle wasn’t seen again until the summer of 2004 and then again in the summer of 2009 when it was spotted in nearly the same place digging nests. Last week the bird banding crew found her digging another nest almost exactly where it was reported in 2004 and 2009.

The crew carefully and quickly noted the turtle’s markings and were able to match it with the data from her initial marking, and left her alone to continue her egg laying activities.

In 1967 this turtle was aged as “22 +/- years old” indicating that she was probably already two decades old, and probably hatched in 1945. Although ~79 years old seems like a long time for a small animal to live, box turtles are reported to live longer than 100 years!