Activities of man have probably affected the density of populations of the ornate box turtle in many parts of its range but appear not to have acted as limiting factors except in certain areas along the northern edge of the range (Blanchard, 1923:19-20, 24) where disruption of grassland through intensive cultivation probably has excluded the species. Unlike certain other reptiles of the Great Plains (Fitch, 1955:64), _T. ornata_ seems not to have been affected--either by direct decimation of populations or by disruption of habitat--by intensive zoological collecting in restricted areas. Environmental changes such as those resulting from overgrazing and erosion, or from protection of the habitat from grazing could be expected to cause long-term changes in populations of ornate box turtles. _Terrapene o. ornata_ is an omnivorous, opportunistic feeder, primarily insectivorous but able to subsist on nearly any sort of animal or vegetable food. The general food habits of _luteola_ are poorly known but probably resemble those of _ornata_. Although kind of food available probably does not limit the distribution of _T. ornata_ there are indications that it influences population density. In Kansas, for example, dung insects are an important staple in the diet and box turtles were found always to be more numerous in areas where domestic cattle provided an abundant supply of dung than elsewhere. A similar relationship probably existed in former times between box turtles and native ungulates. Near extinction of buffalo in the Great Plains possibly caused a decrease in populations of box turtles. Henry S. Fitch told me that the number of _T. ornata_ at the Reservation gradually declined after cattle were removed from the area in 1948. In summary, the distribution of _T. ornata_ seems to be limited by: 1) Presence of a substrate too hard to permit digging of nests and forms (southwestern and western edges of range); 2) temperatures causing the ground to freeze deep enough (approximately 30 inches) to kill turtles in hibernacula (northern edge of range); and, 3) the lack of one or more relatively wet periods in the course of the warm season, preventing at least temporary emergence from quiescence (southwestern edge of range). HABITAT IN KANSAS